Always Be Prepared
by BrianOsler
Summary: An AU look at what may have happened if Allison had declined the ice cream at the end of the Telling. Rated Teen. Five Chapters left.
1. Prologue

Always Be Prepared  
Prologue

**Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,  
And sorry I could not travel both  
And be one traveler, long I stood  
And looked down one as far as I could  
To where it bent in the undergrowth;  
Then took the other, as just as fair,  
And having perhaps the better claim,  
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;  
Though as for that the passing there  
Had worn them really about the same,Somewhere ages and ages hence:  
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-  
I took the one less traveled by,  
And that has made all the difference.**

Robert Frost, **THE ROAD NOT TAKEN**

"Sydney, it's me. Listen, this is going to sound insane, but I just found Provacillium in the bathroom and I think that... I think that... uh, okay, just think about it. I think that the double is Fran…"

Sydney, making sure that her face didn't show anything was amiss, slowly hung up her phone. Smiling, she dug her spoon into the cold container of coffee ice cream she had been eating. Holding it out, she offered it to the woman claiming to be her friend.

"Want some?" she asked, smiling as if nothing was wrong.

"Sure," Allison said, and the rest is history.

But, what if? What if Allison had caught the trap and avoided it? What would have happened?

"Want some?" she asked, smiling as if nothing was wrong.

Allison looked up. "You know I don't like coffee ice cream," she replied.

"Oh. Yeah." Sydney said. Slipping the spoon into her mouth, she savored the frozen goodness. "I've got to go pack," Sydney stated, capping the ice cream and putting it in the freezer. "Vaughn and I are going to Santa Barbara."

"On a mission" Allison asked.

Sydney smiled a genuine smile. "Actually, no it's not for work. We're going together."

"Wow, that's a pretty big step."

"I know, but I'm looking forward to it." Sydney walked into her room and opened her suitcase. As Sydney did that, Allison silently grabbed her gun. She knew that the ice cream had been a test. A test that she'd passed, but she didn't know if Sydney trusted her. Hiding it, she walked over to Sydney's door and saw her folding clothes.

"Have a good trip," Allison said with a smile.

"Thanks," Sydney said, smiling back.

As Allison turned to leave, the smile melted away. When Sydney saw Francie turn her back, she quickly packed her gun into the suitcase. Vaughn had told her about how he got his call name, "Boyscout."

The words that are repeated by so many young kids now repeated over in her mind: always be prepared.

...TBC...


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
Real World

**_But in my real world  
Things don't always turn out so good  
Like you wish they would_**

Big and Rich, "**_Real World_**"

The doorbell rang. Allison walked over and opened the door, revealing a smiling Vaughn in the doorway. "Hey, Francie," he said, and then looked past her to see Sydney walking towards him with a suitcase. "You ready?"

"Yep," Sydney said. She kissed Allison on the cheek and said to her, "See you later."

"Enjoy your trip," Allison said smiling. She was smiling as Sydney walked with Vaughn his car and waved as she watched the vehicle back out of the driveway. Closing the door, her smile quickly turned into a scowl.

Allison headed for the bathroom. She hated knowing what she had to do next. Earlier, Sark had asked her, "You don't... fancy him, do you? Tippin?" In order to remain true to her character as a bada$$ assassin, she had been forced to respond, "Don't be stupid."

What she hated was that she had lied, and both she and Sark knew it. She did fancy him, and doing what she was about to do was going to hurt.

Allison walked into the bathroom. Will groaned and turned his head her direction. He looked truly scared, like a little puppy, as she raised her gun and placed a bullet between his eyes.

Vaughn listened as Sydney recapped Will's weird phone call.

"He found Provacillium in the bathroom?"

"Yes."

"He said that he thought the double was Francie?"

"Yes."

"Is there any possibility that he's right?"

Sydney sighed, "Yes."

"So you knowingly left her at your apartment to do who-knows-what?"

"She's being watched by the protective detail."

Allison walked past the van parked outside the house to the sidewalk on the other side of the street. She was wearing jogging clothes to avert suspicion. The agents inside quickly pretended to be busy. Allison looked around. Seeing no one, she continued walking down the sidewalk, using her body to block the motion of her screwing the silencer into the barrel of the gun. When it would go no more, Allison whirled, and shot twice.

The front glass of the van shattered and she saw the driver's bloodstained head fall forward on the horn. Some of the blood trickled down over the patch of the four leaf clover that matched with the logo on the van of "Lucky Pete's Plumbing."

Running back to the van, she pushed him out of the seat, pulled Will out to the van, got him in the back, started the engine, and drove to the deserted warehouse where she had met Sark earlier. Calling Sloane, she explained the situation. They needed to take care of the three bodies in the van, and replace the CIA agents with their own employees.

Vaughn pulled into a stop in front of the Biltmore Hotel. Looking over at Sydney as she pulled off her sunglasses, he smiled, knowing what he had planned for the weekend. He knew that things probably wouldn't go exactly as planned, after all, he was a spy, and if there was one thing he knew it was that nothing is simple.

...TBC...


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
From This Moment On

_**(I do swear that I'll always be there. I'd give  
anything and everything and I will always care.  
Through weakness and strength, happiness and sorrow,  
for better, for worse, I will love you  
With every beat if my heart.) **_

From this moment life has begun  
From this moment you are the one  
Right beside you is where I belong  
From this moment on

From this moment I have been blessed  
I live only for your happiness  
And for your love I'd give my last breath  
From this moment on.

Shania Twain and Bryan White, "_**From This Moment On**_"

Vaughn and Sydney walked into the Biltmore. They both had smiles on their faces as they strode up to the front desk. "Reservation for Michael Vaughn and Sydney Bristow," Vaughn said to the clerk who typed in their names and then looked up with a smile.

"The Presidential Suite. Nice." He opened the drawer and pulled out two keycards. Vaughn listened as the cashier gave them directions to their room. As they walked down the hallway, bellboy in tow, Vaughn asked Sydney, "So what do you want to do tonight?"

"It's kind of late," she replied.

"So you don't want to do anything?"

"Well, how about a walk along the beach?"

"Sounds perfect," Vaughn smiled at her.

After putting their suitcases in their room, Sydney and Vaughn both headed back outside. As they walked along the beach, hearing the waves crashing, Sydney asked Vaughn, "Did you ever think that we'd be able to be seen together so soon?"

"I was only hoping that we would manage to somehow be able to have a relationship." Vaughn looked over at her. "Dating you is truly a dream come true."

"Vaughn?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Vaughn heard those words come out of Sydney's mouth and smiled. "I love you, too, Sydney." Vaughn held out his hand and Sydney took it. After walking along, hand in hand, for over an hour, they decided to head back. Vaughn suddenly stopped, jerking Sydney back suddenly.

He started kissing her.

Sydney and Vaughn stood there for what seemed like an eternity, until Sydney suddenly pulled away. Sydney started running for the water, and Vaughn watched as she took off her shirt and shorts. He watched her unhook her bra and cast it aside. "Want to join me?" she asked. Vaughn quickly undressed and joined her in the salt water. He remembered that the last time he had gone skinny-dipping was college. This was a new side to Sydney Bristow he had never seen before; he liked it. He swam out to Sydney. The twinkle in her eye was unmistakable.

Sydney woke up the next morning and headed for the shower. When Vaughn heard the water start, he quickly opened his eyes and dialed down to the front desk. "Hello, this is Michael Vaughn in room 147, and I was wondering if you could give me a phone number?"

"Yes, I can, Mr. Vaughn. What do you need?"

"The phone number to La Supersica."

"Okay, are you ready Mr. Vaughn?"

"Yes."

"The phone number is: eight zero five, five five five, one one two three."

"Thank you," he told the clerk and hung up. The water went off. Vaughn quickly hid the piece of paper.

Vaughn showered next. They both dressed and got into Vaughn's car.  
They spent the whole day seeing the sights, and later that night while Sydney got ready for bed, Vaughn arranged for the meal to be delivered to the hotel the next day.

Vaughn and Sydney both awoke refreshed the next morning. "So, Sydney, what do you want to do today?"

"I want to go to the zoo and see that giraffe again."

"Okay. Hey, Syd," Vaughn started.

"Yeah?"

"I've got to take care of a couple of things at the front desk."

"Okay," Sydney said, giving Vaughn a kiss before he left.

Allison finished filling in the last of the three holes. Wiping the sweat off her brow, she called Sloane.

Vaughn quickly handed the ring to the woman at the front desk. "Some food is going to be delivered here later today. There's a special cake that is being made for this purpose. When the caterers come here, could you give this to them?"

"Of course."

"I've run into a few problems, but I've handled them. However, I may need extraction soon. Sloane?"

"I'm here."

"What's going on," Allison inquired.

"I just activated Il Dire," Sloane sighed, "I didn't expect what I got."

"What? What did it say?"

"Well, first it gave my daughter's genetic sequence."

"Then what?"

"Then it printed the words 'No' and 'Peace.'"

"No Peace?"

"No Peace," Sloane repeated.

Sydney laid her head on Vaughn's shoulder as they stood in front of the giraffe. Noticing just how at peace Sydney looked, Vaughn decided to propose right then. The setting wasn't ideal. The ground was covered in sawdust, and there was the overwhelming stench of manure in the air, but Sydney seemed so happy, the situation couldn't be more perfect. Vaughn lifted Sydney's head, and kissed her. "Sydney…"

"Yes?"

Vaughn kneeled down. Sydney's reaction changed from a smile to shocked silence. Looking up at the beautiful woman in front of him, Vaughn asked, "Do you remember October 1st?"

"Of course."

"I walked into a room to see a woman with swollen gums and red hair. Yet there was something about you that I just knew was incredible. I was the one privileged to get to know you over time. I know that we haven't been dating for long, but I honestly feel that this is meant to be. Sydney, our jobs are unpredictable. Who knows how much time we have left? I can't imagine life without you, though. So, Sydney, I can't express to you how much I hope that you'll agree to marry me. Syd, will you make me the happiest man on Earth?"

"Yes, Vaughn. YES!"

Vaughn rose, and they kissed again. "I wish I could give you the ring, but I had planned on doing this later. It's back at the hotel with our supper."

Irina put down her binoculars. Picking up her cell phone, Irina called the man that had planned everything. "Yes," the gruff voice said.

"You'll never guess what happened."

"I don't like surprises. What happened?"

"Your son just proposed to my daughter."

"This is not good. We can't let them continue to be together. Do whatever it takes," Bill said.

"Understood," Irina said, and hung up.

...TBC...


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
I Did Not Die

_**I Did Not Die**_

Do not stand at my grave and forever weep.  
I am not there; I do not sleep.  
I am a thousand winds that blow.  
I am the diamond glints on snow.  
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.  
I am the gentle autumn's rain.  
When you awaken in the morning's hush  
I am the swift uplifting rush  
Of quiet birds in circled flight.  
I am the soft stars that shine at night.  
Do not stand at my grave and forever cry.  
I am not there. I did not die.  


Melinda Sue Pacho "**_I Did Not Die_**"

Allison replaced the last screw on the VCR. They had found her first bugs. She was going to have to be much more careful now. She knew that Sydney had her suspicions, and to add to it, she was going to have to deal with the sudden and unexplained absence of Will.

She had been formulating an explanation the whole morning; one that would be accepted. She had learned from him that he had a sister, Amy. Figuring that he would probably go to her once he thought that his girlfriend was a double, she dug up his body and placed it in Amy's apartment building.

Creating a gas leak in Amy's apartment, and then putting a piece of paper into the toaster and starting it, Allison hoped that the resulting fire would appear to kill Will. She was mortified when she saw the woman from Will's picture of his sister, now with blue hair, walk into her apartment building.

The explosion came a few minutes later. Driving away with a smile on her face, Allison returned to their apartment. Now that she was finally done, she called Sloane, who again seemed uncharacteristically unsure, and had him send in a person who scanned for bugs. All the scans came up negative. The man was leaving when her phone rang.

"Fran? It's Sydney," Sydney said with a huge smile on her face. "You'll never guess what just happened!"

"You'll never guess what just happened here, either," Allison said, sounding as sad as she could.

"What? What's wrong?"

"It's Will."

"What about him?"

"He's…" Allison left off there, making it be Sydney's job to prompt her.

"He's what?"

"I just can't believe it!"

"What? What happened?"

"Will…he…"

"What happened to Will?" Sydney was concerned now.

"He went to see his sister. There was a gas leak."

"Francie, what happened?"

"There was a spark from the toaster!"

"Oh my God, Francie! Is Will alright?"

"No, Syd, he's…"

"What?"

"Syd, Will's dead." Allison heard a thud on the other end of the line and chuckled quietly. Who knows what had just happened in the utopia that Sydney was no doubt in.

Allison heard shuffling, "Francie, do you need me to come home?"

"Don't end your trip just because of me."

"It's not just because of you; it's because of you and Will."

"I could use some help. I just can't believe it," Allison said, sounding like she was choking back tears.

"Listen, Fran, I'm going to talk to Vaughn, okay?"

"Okay. You called me, what was your news?"

"I'll tell you when I get there," Sydney said, starting to pack her stuff.

Vaughn came out of the bathroom to see Sydney placing clothes into her suitcase.

"What's going on?"

"Will's dead! We need to get back, NOW!"

"Wait! Will as in Tippin, Will?"

"Yes!"

"What happened?"

"According to Francie there was a gas leak at his sister's apartment and there was a stray spark."

"Not to belittle your grief, Syd, but has it occurred to you that he may have been right about Francie?"

"Of course, but I don't think he was. I gave Francie a test. She passed it."

"Maybe he got too close. Maybe Will found out something he wasn't supposed to. Maybe his death wasn't accidental!"

"Why are you so into the idea that Francie is the double?"

"Look at the evidence. The obvious evidence being that both Allison Doren and Francie Calfo are both black females. Due to the fact that we know that the double is a female, and there's no way to change that. Second, when Francie gave me the necktie, Will said it was the weirdest thing ever. And then she couldn't remember the quarterback's name. Finally, Will leaves a message on your phone saying that he found Provacillium and that he thinks that Francie is the double. Will is a paid - was a paid - CIA analyst. Don't discount what he says so easily. Test her again."

"With what?"

"You know her better than I do."

"So you want me to bait my best friend, my only surviving best friend, you know, besides you, to prove that she isn't what she seems."

"I just want you to be sure before you blindly trust her. Look what happened when you finally trusted your mother."

"Irina Derevko and Francie Calfo are not the same people!" Sydney exclaimed.

"Allison, it's Irina. I have a request for you."

Jack walked up to Kendall. "I may have another lead on Derevko. An old contact of mine recently stated that she was seen in Santa Cruz, Argentina buying a plane ticket somewhere. I'd like authorization to go after her."

"Authorization granted. And Jack, don't screw up this time."

"I won't."

Sloane looked down at the telephone receiver in his hand, dialing slowly. He sighed loudly when the person at the other end said, "CIA switchboard, how may I help you?"

…TBC…


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
I Walk Alone

**_I walk a lonely road  
The only one that I have ever known  
Don't know where it goes  
But it's home to me and I walk alone _**

I walk this empty street  
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams  
Where the city sleeps  
and I'm the only one and I walk alone

I walk alone  
I walk alone

Greenday, "**_Boulevard of Broken Dreams_**"

McKenas Cole picked up his phone. Dialing Bill's number, he waited for an answer. When no one picked up, Cole decided to call later and then rang Irina.

"Hello?" she answered.

"It's Cole."

"What do you want?"

"I've got intelligence from our mole that Jack has a lead on you and is moving in."

"Your mole?"

"Remember Echelon?"

"Right, you can't say."

"All I'm going to say is that you should get out of there."

"Duly noted," Irina said, hanging up. She loaded a tranquilizer dart into her gun and got ready. All she needed was one clean shot of Vaughn to take care of the necessary business. She didn't like going against Bill, but she had thought of an alternative to tearing them apart. She was going to act on that.

"Sydney, please stop!" Vaughn begged.

"What?"

"Listen, we have this room for another night. It's late. Can we please just wait until morning? We can leave right away."

Sydney looked at Vaughn. "I am kind of tired, but what about Francie?"

"Let Francie be. When Danny died, I'm sure that you needed some time to yourself. You did, didn't you?"

"Yes, but it was also my friend's support that helped me get through it."

"You can still support Francie from here. Call her. Comfort her. Then tomorrow, we'll return the keys and leave."

"Okay," Sydney said, picking up the phone.

"I'm going out for a jog for a little bit," Vaughn said realizing that Sydney needed some space.

As he was running along the beach, he felt something lodge in his neck. As the world swirled around him, he managed to make out Irina before he dropped.

**_Check my vital signs  
To know I'm still alive and I walk alone _**

I walk alone  
I walk alone

Irina dragged Vaughn's body over to a gardening shed behind a local house and injected adrenaline into him to wake him up. He woke up with a start. Irina turned on the lights suddenly, and Vaughn had to squint as his eyes adjusted.

Irina looked at him. "Having a nice weekend, Agent Vaughn?"

He looked around. "What do you want?"

"I have some advice for you."

"Screw you."

"This advice is for both Sydney's and your protection. I'd suggest you listen to me."

"Do you honestly think I'd trust you? You killed my father."

Irina clenched her teeth. Bill had instructed her a long time ago not to tell him if she ever came into contact with him. "You want to keep Sydney safe, right?"

"Of course."

"Then, Agent Vaughn, I'd think you'd be smart enough to pay attention." Irina explained what she wanted him to do and her motivation for telling him such.

Will's body was wheeled through the door at the Joint Task Force building. "How's the investigation going?" Kendall asked.

"Actually," the coroner said, "from what it sounds like, they're suspecting foul play. The investigators have ordered a full autopsy."

"Let me know when you get the results," Kendall told him.

"Mr. Kendall," an agent said to him, "you have a phone call."

Picking up the receiver, Kendall said, "This is Kendall. Who am I speaking to?"

"Mr. Kendall, it's Arvin Sloane." Kendall snapped his fingers furiously at a passing agent.

"Trace this call!"

"No need, Mr. Kendall, I'll tell you right where I am. I'm in Monterrey, Mexico."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"I want to negotiate a pardon."

Vaughn got back into the room and headed right for the phone. Giving his identification information, he was eventually connected to Kendall. "Kendall here."

"Agent Kendall, this is Agent Vaughn. Irina Derevko is in Santa Barbara!"

"What?" Sydney yelled.

"I'll dispatch an agent," Kendall said.

Vaughn hung up, and looked at Sydney. "She just kidnapped me. She told me things. I don't know if I believe her or not, but what she said seemed legitimate."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's that?"

Sydney sat down next to Vaughn. She handed him the pregnancy test. "It's blue," she said.

Vaughn couldn't believe his ears. Irina warned him this might happen. He was starting to believe her.

Scraping the ash off of Will's skeleton, Coroner James Terry saw the round bullet hole in the forehead. "His death wasn't an accident," he said.

…TBC…


	6. Chapters 5 and 6

Chapter 5

Dying her hair red, Irina worked hard to change her appearance to match her falsified passport. Next she put on a necklace of a four leaf clover. At the airport, she bought a ticket to Singapore.

"You have information?" Jack said to the middle-eastern man standing before him.

"Yes," the man said in his thick accent.

"Well, are you going to give it to me?"

"Did you bring the money?"

Jack placed the briefcase on the table and changed the dials to the correct code. Opening it, Jack's informant handed him an envelope. Jack opened it. A piece of paper fell out containing a photocopy of a passport. The information was wrong, but Jack could make out his wife in the picture.

"A friend of mine saw her buy a ticket to the U. S. Santa Barbara, I believe." Jack slid the paper back into the envelope. Nodding, he thanked the man. He called up Marshall. "Marshall?"

"Yes?"

"Could you run a search for me?"

"A search for what?"

Looking at the name on the passport, Jack said the name, "Olim Idlabmar." Marshall typed the name into the computer.

"I've got a ticket under that name on a plane to Singapore."

"Could you get me a ticket there, too?"

"Of course."

Vaughn pulled Sydney close. "I had no idea…"

"It's okay, Syd."

"Vaughn, thanks for being here."

"I'll always be there for you, Syd."

"I know. That's one of the many reasons I love you."

"I love you too, Syd."

"You know what this means, don't you?"

"I've got a pretty good idea."

"I can't be a field agent for the next nine months."

"That, too."

"What were you thinking?"

"Syd, I need to tell you what your mom just told me."

Going lower, Coroner Terry saw the marks from where the knife had entered Will's body. "Oh my gosh," he said, disgusted. He dialed Kendall's number.

"I think you should get in here," he said when Kendall answered.

Sydney listened in disbelief as Vaughn repeated what Irina had told him. "Do you think she's telling the truth?"

"I don't know. She did tell me that you would be pregnant, and now you are. She probably knows what she's talking about. Heck, she was willing to expose herself to tell me."

"But do you think it's the truth?"

"Possibly."

"Are you going to take her advice?"

"I'd like more evidence before I commit to doing something like that."

Jack got off the plane and informed the security staff that Irina would soon be getting off a plane. He sat down and waited for the announcement of her flight being in.

Allison continued to pack her bags. Her cover was going to be blown soon. She needed to be prepared for an immediate extraction.

"Flight 478 from California now arriving at Gate 74," the voice on the loudspeaker said. Jack checked his gun and nodded at the security guards. The gate door opened, and the passengers began to file out.

Jack spotted Irina. He walked right next to her. "No sudden moves."

"Jack. What a surprise."

…TBC…

Chapter 6

Sydney and Vaughn slept restlessly that night. They both had a lot of things on their minds. When Sydney awoke, she was amazed to see all of her stuff was gone. Vaughn came back in to the room, grabbed the last two suitcases, and smiled at Sydney. "Good morning."

"Morning," Sydney said, rubbing her eyes.

"The car's almost loaded. I thought we could get a bite to eat and then head back for LA."

"Sounds good," Sydney said. "However, first I'm going to take a shower."

"Do you need your suitcase?"

"Just pick out some clothes."

"Okay. I'll be back in a bit." Vaughn went out to the car and opened Sydney's suitcase. As he was pushing aside various bits of clothing, he saw the handle of a gun under one of the shirts. He grabbed some clothes for Sydney and himself before joining Sydney in the shower.

The shower was much hotter than Vaughn was used to, but he knew Sydney liked it hot. They dried off, dressed, and had a nice breakfast. After checking out, Vaughn started the long drive home.

Allison knew that she would be a suspect as soon as she disappeared. Almost all of her things were packed, so all she needed to do was wait for Cole's extraction team to arrive. She hadn't planned on shifting her loyalty from Sloane to this new group that Cole had called "The Covenant" so quickly, but it was a necessary evil. She heard the doorbell ring and looked around the place that had been 'home' for nearly half a year now.

Even though it had only been an assignment, she almost felt sad at leaving. Grabbing her bags, she left the house for the last time.

Jack finished securing Irina in a private room the staff of the airport had provided quite willingly. 

"Jack," Irina said, "please let me go."

"What on Earth would make you think I'd be willing to do that?"

"Do you remember Panama?"

"That only happened because I needed to plant the passive transmitter."

"Keep telling yourself that. Maybe someday you'll believe it."

"I do believe it. You betrayed me - twice, actually. Plus, you betrayed Sydney. You are above redemption in my opinion."

"So you were willing to pretend to love me in order to serve your country?"

"That was the only reason what happened in Panama took place."

"You do realize that what happened in Panama then is exactly like what happened between me and you. I agreed to the assignment, and I faked being in love with you in order to accomplish the given task. It got harder as time went on, however, because I grew attached - to both you and Sydney."

"Do you honestly expect me to believe you?"

"Trust is a tricky thing, Jack. I'm sure by now you've realized that."

Hours later, Vaughn pulled into Sydney's driveway. "I'll see you later."

"Bye." After kissing Vaughn once more, Sydney got out and headed to the front door. She unlocked it and stepped inside. "Francie?" she called out. Silence was the only thing that greeted her. Walking over to the answering machine, she saw the blinking red light. Having pressed play, she sat back and listened to the messages.

"Hey, um, Ms. Calfo, this is Joseph at the restaurant. We've got a slight monetary problem. Um, when you get this message, could you come over here? That's basically it. Um, okay, bye."

"Ms. Calfo, it's Joseph again. We still need you to come over here. Thanks. Bye."

"Sydney, it's Kendall. Call me as soon as you get this message."

"End of messages."

Sydney dialed Kendall's number. "Sydney, thank God it's you. We need you to get in here now."

"What's wrong?"

"Will's autopsy showed some abnormalities. We'd like for you to come in. We need to show you something."

"Okay, I'll be there in a bit."

Sydney grabbed her keys and started to head out the door. She wondered what was going on; she had only been gone for about a day and a half, and already everything was coming apart at the seams.

"Jack, please let me go. You don't know what's about to happen."

"What do you mean?"

"There's a prophecy. Everything is in place with the exception of one thing. If and when Sydney becomes pregnant, things are going to change."

"What things?"

"If Sydney and Vaughn have a child, they will never be safe again. That's why I was in Santa Barbara. I had to warn Vaughn about what would happen."

"And what is that?"

"Jack, you are a direct descendent of Rambaldi; so am I. Bill Vaughn is too; so was Janine, Vaughn's mother. If Sydney and Vaughn have a child, it will be the purest Rambaldi offspring. You've seen the extent that governments are willing to go to collect Rambaldi artifacts. Think about what would happen if Sydney and Vaughn have the prophesied baby."

"Governments and other interested groups will be after their child."

"I told Vaughn to get a vasectomy in order to prevent this. Whether or not he will, I don't know."

Allison got out of the van when it pulled up to the warehouse. Looking at the face of her cousin, she smiled. "Hey, Anna."

…TBC…


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7Sark sat in the corner of the less-than-private cell. He could see the guard on the other side of the Plexiglas that separated him from freedom. He wondered to himself how Allison was faring. She'd said she didn't think she could maintain her cover much longer, but Sark had never figured that he'd be the one in jail.

He hated being in here, but he had been captured fair and square. He heard a tone and the sound of the gates being opened. A bald man stood in front of him. "Open the door," the man said. The guard complied, and then entered, handcuffing Sark and forcibly pulling on his arm, leading him somewhere. Sark didn't know where he was going, but he was pretty sure he knew what was going to happen when he got there.

Jack led Irina onto the plane. Calling Kendall, he reported that Irina was in custody. "Good," Kendall responded, "We're taking Sark in for questioning."

Allison continued explaining the plan that she'd been told about when she agreed to this assignment to Cole.

"So what exactly is Sloane's plan?"

"He wanted to get access to Il Dire. Now that he has, I don't know what's going to happen next. I do have some good news, though. When Sydney called me yesterday to console me over Tippin's death, she told me that she is pregnant."

"Excellent," Cole said with a smile. "Now all we have to do is wait nine months."

Monterrey, Mexico

Lauren Reed sat across from Arvin Sloane. She had a rough draft of the pardon agreement typed up, and she had been instructed not to print it off unless Sloane provided enough intelligence to lead to the takedown of at least three terrorist agencies.

"The last group, ARG, is led by Kabul Bin Oden. Their base of operations is in Kabul, Afghanistan. He is constantly surrounded by three bodyguards."

"And how do you know this?"

"We've made deals regarding the sale of weapons."

"Do you know the security code to get into the base?"

"Yes. The code is 1-3-2-5-4-7-0-6-9-8."

"Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Be careful."

"I won't be on the mission. I'm not field rated."

"You're father is Senator Reed, isn't he?"

"Yes, but I don't see how that's relevant."

"Oh, it's not. I was just curious."

Lauren walked away and called the NSC with the information that Sloane had just told her.

"We'll try to verify it."

"Good. I'll wait to hear from you," Lauren said hanging up. Then, looking around, she dialed Cole's number. She told him what she had just told the NSC, and then ended by saying, "They're going to try to verify this information. If they find it true, then Sloane will be out of our way."

"Understood."

"Good. I have to get back to work."

Sark was thrown into a chair. Two anonymous agents handcuffed him down while a few other agents got him ready for the functional-imaging test. The machine hummed to life.

"What is your name?"

"Julian Michael Sark."

"True," the man said to the bald man that had escorted him in. Sark smiled secretly to himself.

This will be fun he thought. If I can fool this machine about my name, then I can fool it about anything else.

"What is your date of birth?"

"June 14, 1980," Sark stated.

"Who do you work for?"

"Irina Derevko and Arvin Sloane," Sark said.

"How did your allegiance to Mr. Sloane begin?"

"I was instructed by Irina Derevko to set up a hit on him in order to be an apparent rescuer. It was then that I gained his trust and joined SD-6. When SD-6 was taken down, I joined the strategic alliance between Derevko and Sloane."

"Who is the second double?"

"Allison Georgia Doren."

"And who did Ms. Doren get doubled to look like?"

"Francine Calfo."

"Why her?"

"We needed someone with access to intelligence. Using her relationship with Mr. Tippin, Ms. Doren was able to assist in our agenda."

"Do you see this right here?" Coroner Terry asked Sydney.

"Yes."

"This appears to be markings from where a knife entered his abdominal cavity."

"So Will was stabbed?"

"Yes, but that wasn't what led to his death."

"And what led to his death?"

"This," Coroner Terry said, pointing to the hole in Will skull. "A single close-range gunshot to the forehead. Instantaneous death."

"Do you have any leads?"

"We're assuming that it's the second double, but we don't know who that is."

Sydney's phone rang. "Agent Bristow here. It is Francie? I'll be right down there."

Hanging up, Sydney looked at Coroner Terry. "Is there anything else you need to show me?"

"No. Go ahead. Leave." Sydney nodded, turned, and left.

Bill phoned his fellow agent from his early days in the KGB. "Derevko's been compromised. It's possible that she may reveal the truth about the past in order to secure leniency from the courts. We need to be prepared for any potential move by the CIA."

"Understood," the man at the other end stated.

"We need to contact the other seven agents."

"Agreed," the voice said, and then the line went dead.

Sark's interrogation lasted for another three hours, with Sydney watching. Vaughn joined after an hour. Shaking his head, Vaughn watched with Sydney as Sark told about his past, not realizing that the past that he was describing belonged to his first victim, Julian Michael Sark.

Lauren listened as her contact from the NSC told her that Sloane's intelligence had been correct for the first terrorist group, and that the leader was now in custody. "One down, two to go," Lauren reported to Sloane, who silently nodded.

Allison and Anna headed out for the local bar. "So what do you want to do when Agent Bristow has her baby?" Anna asked Allison.

"We will get it. Then we will kill the lovebirds."

Hurrying into the head office, the Chinese agent handed his boss a piece of paper. Reading it, he looked at the agent who brought it in. Thanking the agent, he barked into his phone, "Get me Jong Wu. Tell him it's about the Rambaldi baby."

Nadia Santos walked into her superior's office. "We just received word from a reliable source that the Rambaldi baby has been conceived. When it is born, it is imperative that we get it. Failure is not an option."

"Understood."

The plane touched down at LAX. Jack and the Air Marshall walked off the plane with Irina between them. Ignoring several puzzled looks from people in the airport, they led Irina to an unmarked van, in which she was secured.

The van pulled away from the airport, Jack said into the radio, "This is Agent Bristow. We're on our way."

…TBC…


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The black van pulled up in front of the Joint Task Force building in the darkness of the night. As the heavily armed guards made sure that all areas were covered, Irina was led to the second cell in the building.

Once she was inside, a rigorous body cavity search was performed, followed by Irina changing into prison regulation clothing. Kendall approached Jack as all this was going on.

"When we got the call that we had Derevko in our custody again, a select committee of senators was convened to determine her punishment. As of Panama, Derevko's pardon agreement was invalidated. Her agreement to forego all appeals is still binding, however, so the original sentence has been settled upon again. Irina Derevko will be put to death at noon two days from now. I just thought you might want to know."

As the guards left Irina's cell, Jack looked at the woman in front of him. The hurt and resentment from the past twenty plus years came to surface. "I can't wait for her to die." Kendall looked at Jack. "Thanks for the good news." A hint of a smile appeared on Jack's face. As he walked away, Jack dialed Sydney's number. Getting her voice mail, Jack left a message telling her that they needed to talk.

Sydney awoke the next morning to a churning stomach. Vaughn's arm was around her waist, and, though she didn't want to wake him, she moved his arm and rushed to the bathroom.

As she let the disgusting mixture of partially digested food and gastric juices exit her mouth, Sydney realized what she was in for with pregnancy. She felt horrible. She had heard about morning sickness, but she didn't realize just how bad it was going to be.

Flushing the toilet, she couldn't help but realize that this was just the beginning. Brushing her teeth to get the wretched taste out of her mouth and following it with a strong dose of mouthwash, she thought about what Vaughn had said the day before. Their child would never be safe.

Sydney remembered how she had felt when she had found out about Project: Christmas. She didn't want to think that it had been a major factor in keeping her alive, but she had to consider it, and as much as she hated to admit it, she was going to have to do it to their child. Sydney sighed.

Sydney decided to make breakfast since she was up. Walking out to Vaughn's kitchen, she started looking through the cupboards until she found everything she needed.

Lauren had just started her meeting with Sloane. "I got a phone call last night that all the information you gave us has been validated." Placing a piece of paper down on the table with a pen, she stated all the legal jargon that she was required to before allowing Sloane to sign the pardon. "And you understand that if you betray the U. S. government this pardon will be considered void and you will be subject to the full extent of our anti-terrorism laws."

"Yes, I understand," Sloane said, signing the form. Lauren signed on the witness line.

"Congratulations, Mr. Sloane, you have been officially pardoned," Lauren told him.

"Thank you."

Allison quickly fast-forwarded through the tape from the bugs that she had placed. Sydney had been home for only a little bit, and then had left almost immediately. She hadn't returned at all that night, so Allison assumed that Sydney had stayed at Vaughn's place the night before. Allison knew that she needed to get some bugs in there too. She knew that was going to be a problem.

Sydney got back into the bed and woke Vaughn. "Breakfast is ready."

"You didn't have to cook," Vaughn said with a smile.

"I wanted to."

"Okay."

"Okay," Sydney repeated with a smile. A kiss followed. Vaughn and Sydney both went out to the kitchen.

"Those waffles look good," Vaughn said.

"They've got a special ingredient."

"Are those chocolate chips?"

"Yeah," Sydney said, smirking. "I've got a soft spot for them."

Vaughn had to laugh at that. He had been dating Sydney for nearly six months now, and he didn't even know that.

Sydney and Vaughn talked until they had to leave for work. "I'm not looking forward to having to tell Kendall that I can't do field work."

"I'm not looking forward to telling Jack about it." Sydney had to laugh at what Vaughn had just said. Out of nowhere, Sydney was overcome with sadness. Her laughter turned to tears.

"Hey babe, what's wrong?"

"Francie and Will are dead," Sydney said.

_Damn the hormones_, Vaughn thought. _This is going to be interesting_.

Irina looked at the guard standing outside her cell. She hadn't planned on being captured. As much as she believed that she was ready to die, her survival instinct kicked in. "Hey, you, tell Kendall that I have some information."

The guard motioned for another guard, and then repeated Irina's statement. The other guard left and returned a little bit later with Agent Kendall.

"What do you want to tell me?"

"Agent Kendall, I've got some information you'd be interested in. However, for me to give it to you, I'd like a one month extension on my execution."

"It depends on the information whether or not you'll get it."

"You know about me killing those twelve agents?"

"Yes."

"There's a disk, the contents of which should be quite interesting."

"What is on it?"

"The locations of the twelve agents I supposedly killed. Their deaths were just a cover-up for the extractions of the agents without any suspicion."

"So what you're saying is that all those agents are alive?"

"Three have died since their extraction, but the remaining nine are still alive and kicking."

"What about Agent Vaughn's father?"

"Grant me an extension on my execution and I'll give you the location. You're questions will be answered then."

Kendall dialed his phone. Irina smiled.

…TBC…


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9After getting an extension for Irina on the one condition that the evidence proved to be true, Kendall called a meeting.

"As some of you know," he started off, "We now have Irina Derevko in our custody again."

"We do?" Sydney asked.

"Yes. Your father got some intel that gave us her location and he managed to apprehend her."

"Is she cooperating?"

"She has already provided us with intelligence that could have a huge effect on what we believe we know about her."

"What do you mean?"

"She CLAIMS that she never killed those twelve agents. She CLAIMS that there is a disk that gives those agents' whereabouts."

"Did she say anything about my father?"

"She only said that the disk would answer our questions. The disk is in a vault in Champagne, France."

"Champagne?" Marshall asked.

"Champagne," Kendall repeated himself.

"So all we have to do is go there and get a disk out of a safe?" Vaughn said. "Sounds easy."

"Not quite."

"What else is there?"

"The safe is one of the newest types," Marshall stated. "I studied the schematics and I couldn't find a way to bypass the code aspect. This thing is so hard to crack it's like…how many here have read the X-Men comic books?"

Weiss's hand went up. "What about it?"

"Wolverine's claws are made of adamantium, which is basically an indestructible metal. This safe compared to other safes is like adamantium compared to other metals. It's indestructible."

"So how do we get in?" Sydney asked.

"The current code is stored in a file in Paris at a server farm."

"So we go to Paris, get the code, and then go to Champagne and get in the safe?"

"Not quite," Kendall said again.

"What else is there?"

"Right," Marshall started. "The access to the server that has the code is protected by a biometric sensor. To get into the file, you need a copy of Jon Modal's fingerprint. He lives in Orleans, France"

"Wow," Sydney said.

"Sydney, you're on point. Vaughn, you're on coms. Your plane leaves in three hours."

"Uh, Director Kendall?"

"What is it Sydney?"

"I can't go."

"And why not?"

Sydney looked around. "I can't go because I'm pregnant."

A gasp sounded around the table. Sydney could see Jack tense up.

"Pregnant?" Kendall asked incredulously.

"Pregnant." Sydney affirmed.

"Okay, change of plans. Vaughn, you're on point; Dixon, you're on coms. Go see Marshall for your op-tech."

"Okay," Dixon said.

"That's all. Sydney, could you stay for a moment?"

"Sure," she stated.

As the small group of people filed out of the meeting, Vaughn saw Jack heading towards him. He did not look happy.

…TBC…


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10Vaughn continued heading toward Marshall's office. "Agent Vaughn," Jack called out. Vaughn quickened his pace. The last thing he wanted to experience now was an infuriated Jack. He was almost to Marshall's office when he felt himself get spun around. He was only inches away from Jacks blood-red face. "Agent Vaughn," Jack repeated.

Vaughn sighed and responded. "Yes?"

"I need to talk to you. Alone!"

Rubbing his forehead, Vaughn followed Jack into a secluded corner of the JTF building.

"I realize that you and my daughter are in a relationship. Although I don't agree with the two of you dating, wouldn't you say that I've been relatively unobtrusive?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then let me make myself clear. If you, in any way, cause my daughter pain, be it physical or emotional, well let's just say that you will never wear a hat again. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"Yes, Jack, I understand. And before you blow your top, I should let you know that Sydney and I are engaged."

"Engaged?"

"Engaged."

"Regardless, my warning still stands. If you hurt my daughter in any way, I will kill you."

"I understand, Jack."

"Good. Welcome to the family. You're in for a ride." Jack turned around abruptly and walked away. Vaughn took a deep breath and headed for Marshall's office. He knew it wouldn't have helped the situation for Vaughn to tell Jack about the benefits of Tic Tacs.

"So, Agent Bristow, you're pregnant?" Kendall said.

"Yes."

"You realize that this makes you unable to perform in a field agent capacity."

"Yes."

"I'll transfer you to a work station. You can be an analyst until you give birth.

"Understood."

"Okay, I'm sorry to have to do this, but since I assumed that Sydney was going on this mission, I kind of…" Marshall trailed off.

"What is it?" Vaughn asked impatiently

"Well," Marshall began, "this device here lifts the fingerprints." Marshall held up a tube of lipstick. "You see, on this side it has a small little light. The little light acts like a scanner, picking up the fingerprint by detecting the presence of the oil that the skin excretes."

"You don't have it in any other form?"

"No, not really," Marshall said with an apologetic grin on his face.

"Fine," Vaughn sighed reluctantly, pocketing the tube of lipstick.

"Wait, Marshall," Dixon started, "Don't you still have that phone scanner we needed that one time?"

"No, it was put in the collection of all the items recovered from the SD-6 raid. I don't have access to it."

"Call Kendall. Explain the situation. I'm sure he'd help."

Marshall complied, and a few minutes later, after loading some new liquid latex into the back of the phone, he handed the phone to Vaughn who returned the tube of lipstick.

"Now that we've taken care of the fingerprint thing, you shouldn't really need anything else for the mission itself, but Kendall told me to make this, too." Pulling out what looked like a ladies watch, Marshall explained that it was a wireless modem.

"So you want us to send you the data from his database?"

"Yes. Do either of you have any questions?"

"Nope," Vaughn said and, turning to leave, was surprised when Marshall tapped on his shoulder.

"Can I ask you a question."

Sloane sat back in the comfortable chair of the CIA provided hotel room. There was a knock on his door. Reluctantly giving up the comfort and answering the door, Sloane was surprised to see the redheaded Marlon Bell at his door. Ushering him in, Sloane tried everything he could to accommodate for the prestigious man that was paying him a visit.

"Mr. Sloane, as you know, I am Senator Bell. You probably don't know this, but I'm a member of a group known as "The Trust." I am here on their behalf to make a business proposal.

Jack approached Sydney. Sydney smiled cautiously. "Hey, dad."

"Hey, Sydney. Is there somewhere where we could go to talk?"

"Of course."

Nadia was tired. She had had a long day. She sat in her chair and imagined what her parents had been like. She pictured the ideal family. She imagined the "Leave it to Beaver" type family. Doing what she had done for the past several years, she pondered what her parents must have been like.

Irina opened her eyes, fully rested from her auto circadian meditation. She saw Jack and Sydney standing outside her cell.

"What do you know about our kid? What did Rambaldi write exactly? Be specific."

Irina sighed and began to recite the words she knew by heart.

"In that day, The Chosen One and he who she has pledged her heart to, will bring forth life…"

…TBC…


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"In that day, The Chosen One and he who she has pledged her heart to, will bring forth life. Their son will be endowed with unforeseen gifts. Though their lives will be frought with peril, the union shall persevere until the untimely demise of one member of the family. At this time, the true power of the child will be revealed."

"Untimely demise?" Sydney asked.

"Either you or Vaughn is going to die an early death. When that happens, your son will show a display of power, the likes of which has never been seen before."

"What will he do?"

"The prophecy never tells."

"Does it give any indication as to who will be the one who dies?"

"None whatsoever."

"So, we're going to have a boy," Sydney said, getting off the depressing fact that another person close to her was going to die if it wasn't her.

"If the baby you have right now is a girl, then that means that the prophecy won't be true for that baby. I told Vaughn to get a vasectomy. That should prevent any further children."

Vaughn looked at Dixon. "What was it like?"

"What?"

"Getting to work with Sydney all the time."

"Well it was…" Dixon stopped and thought. "There's really no one word that can describe it."

"I'll take more than one."

"Mind-bowing. Incredible. Adrenaline-pumping. Unbelievably awesome. Those are just some of the words to describe it."

"You should know, she did want to tell you about SD-6. There were so many times that she told me that she couldn't stand lying to you."

"I know that. It was just…" Dixon sighed, "after all that time working together, to find out that she had been lying to me. It hurt."

"I just wanted to let you know."

Walking behind Kendall as he headed toward a work station, Sydney couldn't believe that she wasn't going to be able to go on a mission for the majority of the next year. Picking up the first of several files on her desk, she started the awkward process of trying to find the excitement in paperwork.

The plane landed in Orleans. In the toilet stall at the airport, Vaughn transformed himself into a butler. The plan was for Vaughn to pretend to be a butler at the party, and to get an empty glass with the correct fingerprints on it, scan them, and provide a replacement drink before slipping out the back way and leaving for Paris.

Dixon dropped Vaughn off, and waited in the van, as Vaughn picked up an empty tray and started walking around. Spotting his mark, Vaughn headed toward Jon Modal.

"Votre verre a l'air vide, Monsieur, puis-je le récupérer ?"

"_Your glass looks low, sir, mind if I take it?"_

"Bien sûr." Mr. Modal said to Vaughn. Carefully grabbing the margarita glass by the stem, Vaughn placed it on the tray. Heading off to a secluded corner, he scanned the prints and then headed for the bar to get a replacement drink. After the bartender filled up a new glass, Vaughn took it over to Mr. Modal.

"_Not at all"_

Walking away, Vaughn was shocked when he got to the van safely. It seemed that almost every mission he went on, something went wrong. For something to go absolutely perfect was a welcome surprise. Dixon drove away, and both he and Vaughn got on the plane and headed for Paris.

Sloane finished signing the forms that Senator Bell had been handing him. "Thank you," Senator Bell told Sloane.

"You're welcome. I'll get you the location of that device soon."

"Good."

Flipping through page after page of the manuscript that Lauren had sent along the long chain of contacts to the Head of The Covenant, Arvin Clone nodded slowly. "Interesting. Very interesting."

Slipping the latex thumbprint onto his finger, Vaughn keyed in the password Irina had given the CIA when she was interrogated for intelligence on this mission. It was accepted. Vaughn wrote down the code, logged out, and hurried. They only had three hours to make it to Champagne before the code changed.

Two and a half hours later, Vaughn burst into the van, and panting said, "We have it."

…TBC…


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The plane taxied onto the runway, and Vaughn braced himself as it accelerated and lifted off the ground. Once they had reached cruising altitude, Vaughn turned on his laptop and put in the disk. Seeing his father's name, he clicked on the file. Vaughn couldn't believe his eyes when he saw what the file showed. "No f way," he blurted out.

Irina hated having revealed the fact that either Sydney or Vaughn was going to die, but she knew she wouldn't get anywhere by holding back the majority of the information. However, Irina didn't want to tell Sydney the rest of the prophecy because she feared what it would do to Sydney.

"In that day, The Chosen One and he who she has pledged her heart to, will bring forth life. Their son will be endowed with unforeseen gifts. Though their lives will be frought with peril, the union shall persevere until the untimely demise of one member of the family. At this time, the true power of the child will be revealed.

When the child reveals his ultimate gift, I shall return to the earth, and life in that day will change."

Sark remembered when Irina had first taken him under her wing. She had been like a mother to him. In his efforts to please her, he remembered her ordering him to kill Julian Sark, his best friend. She handed him the gun. He had taken it. They had agreed to meet at the park later that day. Everything seemed like it would go over so well, but then… Sark's thoughts trailed off as Bald-Headed-Man came in. With guards in tow, Sark was taken off for questioning again.

Weiss looked down at his list. Eggs, Lettuce, and Bread, he thought. Walking forward, lost in thought, Weiss didn't see that his cart was headed straight for another cart. The impact startled him.

"I'm so sorry," he said looking up.

"It's perfectly fine," the amazingly-beautiful woman said to him with a smile.

"I wasn't looking where I was going."

"I said it's fine."

"You know, I've haven't done this much before, but I was wondering if you were busy tonight. I noticed you don't have anything on your finger. I did however notice that there's a light band there, which makes me think you recently ended it with someone."

"You got all of that from us crashing our carts together?"

"I'm observant."

"You know, I can't believe I'm doing this, but yes, I'll go out with you."

"Are you free tonight?"

"Actually I am."

"Good."

The lady eventually gave her name and number to Weiss. As they walked away, Weiss looked at the slip of paper. The lady's name was Sally Benson.

Vaughn saw the picture of his dad, older and gray-haired, but his dad all the same. Shaking his head, he knew what Irina had said was true. His dad had been KGB. His dad had been ordered to infiltrate the CIA. Worst of all, Vaughn knew, his dad had been ordered to fabricate a life, just like Irina had. Vaughn realized that his birth was most likely an unpleasant fact for his father. Realizing all of this, Vaughn gained a renewed appreciation for how strong Sydney had been when she had been forced to confront her mother. He admired Sydney's restraint more than ever now because Vaughn realized should the situation arise that he was ever face-to-face with his father, Vaughn didn't know if he could keep himself from shooting the jerk.

Vaughn continued reading down the page. He saw an address. Though they had been ordered to report right back to Los Angeles, Vaughn talked to the pilot, and the plane suddenly changed course.

Allison looked over at Anna. How's my family doing. Looking away, Anna shook her head. "What? What is it?"

"Your dad. He has cancer."

Arvin Clone looked at Allison's report. Calling Lauren, Arvin Clone called in a favor.

Lauren looked both ways, and then hacked into the CIA database. Accessing the file on Dr. Markovich, she downloaded all the schematics for Project: Helix and burned them on a disk. She had just one more thing to do: get a sample of the DNA that would be used to create the double. Accessing the NSC file, she searched for the name she was given. Writing it down, she exited the file and erased the history of her actions.

Putting the disk and the address in an envelope, Lauren called her mother and set up a lunch appointment.

Alice opened the door for Jim later that night. "Oh my gosh," she said when she saw that her living room had been ransacked. Dialing 9-1-1, she requested the police.

Looking through her stuff, the only thing she could find that was missing was her toothbrush and hairbrush.

Olivia Reed sealed up the bag with the tooth and hair brush in it, and enclosed the disk Lauren had given her at lunch. Giving them to the taxi driver that picked her up to go to the supper with her husband, the envelope began the long trip to Arvin Clone.

Weiss smiled at Sally as they ate their supper. "So what do you like to do in your spare time," he asked.

"I make ships in bottles."

"I have always wondered how people do that.

"Tell you what," Sally began, "I'll show you when we get back to my place."

Weiss realized that Sally had just invited him to go back home with her. Smiling, he responded, "Okay."

Vaughn kicked in the door at the address given in the file. Gun drawn, Vaughn checked the whole house only to find that no one was in it.

On his way out, he noticed a picture in a picture frame on the table. It was an old picture from when he was a kid. On it was written, "I luv you, Daddy. Mike."

In the midst of the nostalgia, Vaughn had to smile.

"Did you find anything?" Dixon said coming in.

"No, nothing," Vaughn said, taking the picture with him as they left and returned to Los Angeles.

…TBC…


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Turning the old picture frame around in his hand, Vaughn continued thinking back to all the times in his childhood that he was most in awe of his father. He remembered the way that his dad could always seem to hit the baseball when they were at practice. He remembered when the team that his dad had taught went all the way to state. None of it had been true. It had all been a lie.

He remembered playing football in the backyard with their neighbors. He remembered that when his father had brought home a pool table. Thus began one of Vaughn's many fascinations. It had all been a lie.

He recalled the time that he had first gone ice-skating. He had fallen. His father had told him to practice at it. That led to Vaughn joining the school hockey team. It had all been a lie.

Rage overtook Vaughn and he threw the picture frame against the wall. The glass shattered, and that's when Vaughn saw the envelope.

Sydney finished up the paperwork for the day and left to go to Vaughn's house. She hadn't felt safe at her place after she had found out that Francie had actually been Allison. She used the key Vaughn had given her before he left to get in. Feeding Donovan, she settled back, popped in a copy of Alice in Wonderland, and watched the Disney video that she had watched so much when she was younger.

Jack called Sydney's cell phone. "Hey, Sydney, it's me."

"Oh, hi."

"I was wondering if you maybe wanted to get something to eat?"

"Sure."

"I'll pick you up at your place in five minutes, okay?"

"Actually, I'm staying at Vaughn's place." Sydney heard silence at the other end of the line.

"I'll be there soon."

"Okay."

"It was all a lie," Vaughn said aloud. "Just a big fat lie," he said as he opened up the envelope. He pulled out a letter.

_Dear Michael,_

If you're reading this letter, then my secret is out. I'm sorry that you had to find out the way that you did. It wasn't my intention to shock you like this, but certain things must occur in the course of time. I am sorry that I had to lie to you all your childhood, but it was an assignment. If this helps relieve your anger a little bit, I did love you and your mother, and it did hurt when I had to leave. I want to let you know that I will always love you.

William Vaughn

"How are you doing," Jack asked when Sydney got into the car.

"Fine," Sydney replied, somewhat confused.

"I mean in regards to…" Jack sighed, "in regards to revealing the fact that you are pregnant to everyone today."

"It's an adjustment."

"I'm sure it is."

"Dad, I want you to know that I'm happy. Even with everything that's happened, I'm happy."

"I know. Even though I've known it has happened, it's never easy to realize that your kid has grown up. To me, you'll always be that little girl with pigtails."

"Always?"

"Always," Jack responded with a smile. "Some things may change…" A pause. "Many things may change, but nothing will change the simple fact that you are my daughter and I love you."

Sydney smiled, and the dinner that followed was relatively stress-free.

Jack had just paid for the meal when he got a phone call. Looking up at Sydney, he stated the simple fact he had just learned. "Sloane just got pardoned."

It's a lie, Vaughn told himself. It has to be a lie. He kept repeating those nine words in his mind, but no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that it was true, he kept coming back to the last line of the letter. "I want to let you know that I will always love you." As hard as he tried, Vaughn couldn't convince himself that the last statement was a lie.

The plane landed a few hours later, and after turning the disk in at the Joint Task Force building, Vaughn returned home to find Sydney crying into one of his pillows.

"Hey, babe, what's wrong?" he asked laying down next to her. He put his arm around her body and she pulled it closer.

"I just want to sleep," she said, and moments later, she was lost in blissful sleep.

Arvin Clone had taken the schematics of Project: Helix to the main mechanic. "I need you to make another one of these."

Looking the plans over, the mechanic agreed.

Morning dawned in Los Angeles, and another day began. Vaughn woke up before Sydney this time, and went into his kitchen and made up some omelets. He saw an opened bag of marshmallows on the table and laughed. Perhaps sleeping with Sydney over time would give him a really good recipe. "Don't frost the pie." "Put the Bacon in first." "Chocolate Chips, Yum." And yesterday's "Don't add the marshmallows."

He heard Sydney get up and head for the bathroom followed by a retching, a flush, and then the whir of her toothbrush. When she came out a few minutes later, she was noticeably pale. "Hey Vaughn?"

"Yeah?"

"We need to start planning our wedding to make October 1.

"You're right."

Sydney smiled, and Vaughn smiled back, both aware that they were one day closer to spending the rest of their life together.

Three weeks later…

Jack looked down at the request Sydney had filed two days earlier. The request was for Project: Christmas to be activated again in order to train their child. All Jack had to do was sign on the line to make it go into effect. All Jack had to do to make the request go away was slip it into the shredder. Picking up his pen, Jack signed on the line.

Project: Christmas was back.

Allison walked into full view of Arvin Clone, Anna, and McKenas Cole. "Good. Do you have the bugs?"

"Yes."

"Then the let's commence the next stage of our operation."

Andrian Lazerey returned home. Putting the key in the box where he had stored all the other ones, he realized that he only had one key left until he had all the keys necessary to get the Rambaldi Cube.

…TBC…


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14Allison sat down on in the seat of the airplane headed for Los Angeles. The lady next to her smiled. "So what are you going to LA for?"

"Business."

"Really? What do you do?"

"I'm a personal representative for a large group of people."

"Sounds like fun."

"Sometimes it can be a cutthroat field," Allison said to the old lady.

"What's your name?"

"Alice," Allison told her.

"What's this?" Vaughn asked walking through the kitchen.

"It's the seating arrangement for the wedding."

Vaughn studied it carefully.

"You aren't inviting very many people. Why?"

"Let's see," Sydney started. "Francie is dead; Will is dead; Mom is in US custody; Dad is sitting right here; Charlie is a lying, cheating jerk; Jenny and Will broke up early last year; and our co-workers are green, the neutral color."

"What about extended relatives?"

"What about them?"

"Doesn't Irina have sisters?"

"Yes, Katya and Yelena."

"Why aren't you inviting them?"

"I have no means of contacting them."

"What about family on your Dad's side?"

"Grandpa and Grandma both died when I was 4. Jason and Dad don't get along…"

"Jason?"

"My uncle. I've only met him once."

"Don't you have anyone else you can invite?"

"If it weren't for my job, I'd have plenty of people to invite." Vaughn could see that Sydney was about to start crying again.

"It's okay," he said, trying to console her.

"No, it's not okay. All of my friends…" Sydney trailed off, looking at Vaughn. "Most of my friends are dead."

"Things will get better."

"When?"

Vaughn didn't have an honest answer.

The plane landed. Allison walked out of the airport carrying her carry-on. Getting into a cab, she gave the driver Alice's address.

When they arrived, Allison paid the driver and snuck around back where she picked the lock and let herself in. Taking a seat in the living room, Allison waited for Alice to return home.

She didn't have to wait long. A silenced gunshot sounded, and Allison reentered Sydney and Vaughn's lives.

Kendall approached Irina. "You were granted a month extension with the intelligence you provided us about the disk. That month is almost over. Is there something else you'd like to tell us?"

"I have a daughter."

"We already know that."

"I'm not talking about Sydney."

"Then who are you talking about?"

"Grant me another extension and I'll tell you."

"This intelligence doesn't affect national security."

"Guess again," Irina told him.

Jack stared at the TV screen in shock. Laura had another kid? He wondered. Why didn't she mention it before?

In the cover of night, Allison drug Alice's body out into the back yard and buried her underneath of the carrots. Going back inside and cleaning up, Allison prepared for her encounter with Sydney the next day.

…TBC…


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15The alarm clock went off at 6:00 the next morning. Sydney rolled over and looked at Vaughn. "Hey, Vaughn, guess what?"

"What?"

"I don't have to puke," she said laughing.

Vaughn joined in the laughter. "So are you ready to go to work today?"

"Do you want to know something?"

"Sure," Vaughn said furrowing his brow.

"I've been sitting behind a desk for the past three weeks and I'm about to go crazy. I never realized it before, but I'm addicted to adrenaline. It's gotten so bad that I just want to do something like go skydiving, initiate a high-speed pursuit, or just something. I can't stand just doing paperwork. It's so mundane."

Vaughn chuckled at this.

"But then I am forced to think about our kid whenever those thoughts cross my mind, and…" Sydney trailed off.

"And…" Vaughn prompted.

"And when I think about our kid, I realize that I can't do those things. It's making me crazy."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I know, but still, I'm sorry."

Sydney looked at Vaughn. A long passionate kiss followed. "I'm going to go get breakfast going."

"Okay," Vaughn said kissing Sydney again.

The doorbell rang. Walking over and opening the door, Vaughn stared in shock. "Alice," he said.

Bill stared at the video feed from the camera that he had planted in the tree in front of his house. There were still agents inside. It wasn't safe to return. Looking over at his wife, Bill asked her, "Where'd Hannah go again?"

"To the mall."

"Of course she did. She always has to go to the mall."

"Considering that you uprooted our family because of your past, I don't think it's too big of a sacrifice to let our daughter pick out some new clothes."

Looking both ways, Hannah handed the scruffy looking man the money her mom had given her for the new clothes. Handing her a bag of white powder, the man stuffed the money into his pocket. "Thanks," she told him. Turning to leave, she stopped suddenly when three police cars blocked her exit.

The man that had just given her the bag got up suddenly and pulled a gun. "You're under arrest," he told her.

Allison stared back at Vaughn. "Michael," she said trying her hardest to sound like she was trying to hold back anger.

"What are you doing here?" Vaughn asked her.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure," Vaughn replied, stepping out of her way.

"Let me get to the point," Allison started. "I have some of your stuff in the car. You'll get it back when you give me what's rightfully mine."

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't remember?"

"No."

"Well, I'm not leaving until I get it."

"What are you talking about?"

"When you give it to me, I'll give you your stuff."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Allison shrugged her shoulders. Vaughn sighed. "Stay here," Vaughn told her, "I'll look for anything that's yours."

Leaving the room, Vaughn went into his bedroom. Scanning the floor, he didn't see anything that belonged to Alice. He checked the drawers next, followed by the closet. Nothing. Leaving the room, Vaughn headed into the basement.

When Allison was sure that Vaughn was gone, she reached into her pocket. She headed around the room planting bug after bug. She knew that she had to get the bugs in other areas of the house. Wandering around, she found herself in the kitchen. She looked up to see Sydney cooking wearing nothing but an old t-shirt that she presumed was Vaughn's and some panties that were barely visible under the hem of the shirt.

"Alice," Sydney said in shock.

"Sydney," Allison said returning the greeting. Allison didn't know what had happened, but she realized that she had somehow goofed up. Sydney was looking at her weird.

"What did you say?"

"I returned your greeting. Why?"

"Did you call me Sydney?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Vaughn walked into the kitchen at that point. Seeing him, Sydney called out, "Hey, Vaughn, do you have your gun?"

"It's in my room. Why?"

Allison swiveled her head. She saw a knife on the counter. Sydney must have seen her because they both lunged for it at the same time. Allison's fingers curled around the handle. Grabbing Sydney, she held the knife at her throat. Walking slowly, Allison lead Sydney as her hostage out of the house.

Once they were out the door, Allison pulled her gun and dropped the knife. Forcing Sydney into the car and then getting in after her, Allison started the car and barked the tires as she backed out.

Allison had just put the car in drive and started to accelerate when the driver side window shattered and blood splattered on the windshield. As the weight of Allison's dead body shifted, more pressure was put on the gas, and the car accelerated. Sydney felt the car swerve, and noticed that the continually accelerating car was headed right for a power pole.

…TBC…


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Vaughn stared in horror as Alice's car wrapped itself around the telephone outside his house. While running over to it, he pulled out his cell phone. Dialing 911, he told about what had just happened.

When he got to the car, he quickly ran to the passenger side. Seeing Sydney's limp body, Vaughn's fingers found their way to her neck. She had a pulse. Sighing in relief, he knew that she was alive. Even though he really didn't care, he went over to the driver side and put his fingers at Allison's neck. He didn't feel anything. He knew he wouldn't considering that he could see some brain matter where the bullet had entered.

Talking into the phone, he said to the person at the other end of the line to send an ambulance. "I also need a fire truck. We're going to need the Jaws of Life. Send a coroner, too."

Calling the CIA next, he told them that neither he or Sydney would be there. His last call was Jack.

"What is it, Agent Vaughn," Jack said, clearly angry about something.

"Something happened…" Vaughn choked out before needing to take a deep breath.

"What are you talking about?"

"Something happened," Vaughn said again, and after taking a deep breath, he got the next part out, "to Sydney."

"What happened," Jack said, enunciating each word.

"Sydney. She was in a car accident."

With notable concern in his voice, Jack asked, "Is she okay?"

"She's alive," Vaughn said, "but the ambul…" Vaughn had started when he heard the sirens. "The ambulance is almost here."

"Where are you?" Jack demanded.

"Right outside my house."

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

Fifteen minutes later…

Vaughn and Jack watched as Sydney was put in the ambulance and then as the doors closed. Both getting into Jack's car, they followed right behind it as it headed to the hospital. When it got there, they waited for an update. A nurse walked out to them.

"She's stable. The surgeons were able to set her bones, and she's awake now. Only family members can go see her, though. Are you family?" she asked looking at Vaughn.

Looking at her, Jack answered for him. "Yeah, he's family."

…TBC…


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17Vaughn followed Jack as he walked into the hospital room. Vaughn saw that the TV was on. Glancing at it, he recognized the one soap that Sydney indulged in.

"So, what's going on with Gavin and Ruby this week," Vaughn said, trying to make the situation of seeing the woman that he loved, the woman he had always thought of as indestructible, laying in a hospital bed with her right leg suspended by a metal bar. The cast that was on her leg was covering it all, and there were several tubes into her arm. Her left eye was purple and her right one was swollen shut.

He heard her shift a little bit, in order to look at him, and she responded. "Last week, Gavin found out that the person he thought was his father wasn't and that he's actually Sheri's brother."

"Who's Sheri again?"

"Sheri is Gavin's girlfriend who is secretly a lesbian sleeping with Ruby."

"But I thought Ruby was a transsexual"

"She is, but Sheri doesn't know that yet."

Jack looked weirdly at Vaughn. "You didn't know she liked this show?"

"I didn't know you liked this show," Jack said, giving the faintest hint of a smile.

"Funny," Vaughn said sarcastically. "So how are you doing, dear."

"I don't hurt," Sydney stated and then laughed. "Of course I am on a ton of drugs."

Vaughn laughed out of pity. Jack stood there with his well known stoic face, but even Vaughn could recognize the worry that was evident through his eyes.

Sitting down, Vaughn took Sydney's hand. Jack walked closer. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Just stay with me," Sydney said.

Sydney could feel Vaughn's thumb rubbing back and forth over the back of her hand, and giving him a weak squeeze, she smiled at him.

Coroner Jacobs wheeled the gurney down the hall and into the morgue. Three people were waiting for him when he got there. Quickly flashing IDs, they identified themselves as CIA.

"What can I do for you," Jacobs asked.

"We need that body."

"This one?" he asked.

"That one."

"We're going to need you to sign it out." The man in the middle nodded, and then looked at the other two. Pulling out his gun, he shot the coroner. Pushing the gurney out, they met up with Anna. Uncapping a vial of red liquid, Anna poured the contents through the hole in Allison's head. Watching in shock as the hole sealed up, Anna smiled when Allison gasped for air. "She's alive," Anna called out to the driver.

The last thing Allison had remembered was driving with Sydney in the passenger seat. It only felt like a moment when she saw Anna hovering over her, and then moving her mouth like she was saying something, but nothing came out. She felt the van move, and laid there in the total silence.

Anna looked at her, smiling. Allison saw Anna trying to talk, but no sound came out. Speaking for the first time since opening her eyes in the van, Allison tried to say, "Can you hear me," but she couldn't hear if she did or not. The realization sunk in a few minutes later. I'm deaf, she realized.

Sydney smiled Vaughn. "Hey Syd?" Vaughn asked.

"Yeah?"

"Did they say anything about our baby?"

"Yeah. He's doing fine."

"Wait; our kid's a boy?"

"It's just easy to refer to our baby as he. It's usually around the third month when the sex can be determined."

"So we have about a month left?"

"Yeah. We should discuss names, though."

"Okay," Vaughn said and looked at her.

"What should we name it if it's a female?"

Vaughn thought about that

"Lucy?"

"Lucy Vaughn," Sydney said slowly. "What do you think, Dad?"

Jack was surprised to be asked that question. "Lucy's…Jack paused a bit before continuing, "Lucy's fine."

"Katie," Vaughn said, throwing out another possibility.

"Katie Vaughn," Sydney said slowly, testing it out. "Dad?"

Jack looked at Sydney. "This is a choice between you two," Jack stated emotionlessly. "Pick what you want."

"Elizabeth," Sydney said, tossing another name out.

"Katie Lucy Vaughn. Katie Elizabeth Vaughn. Elizabeth Lucy Vaughn. Lucy Elizabeth Vaughn. Elizabeth Katie Vaughn," Vaughn said stating the possibilities.

"Lucy Elizabeth Katie Vaughn," Sydney said, and then started to laugh.

"What?"

"Leigh," Sydney said stating a common name.

Vaughn wrinkled his forehead in confusion. "Leigh Vaughn." Understanding danced across his face. "Leave on."

Sydney startled Vaughn when she started singing. "I'm Leigh Vaughn on a jet plane." Laughing at the stupid joke she had made, Vaughn turned to Jack.

"She was right. She is on drugs." At that remark, Vaughn, for the first time in his life, saw Jack smile.

…TBC…


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The next day dawned and Vaughn reluctantly headed to work. Jack had gotten the day off, due to the fact that he was related to Sydney by blood, but Kendall hadn't let Vaughn off the hook.

As far as Vaughn was concerned, the CIA was doing well. Irina and Sark were in custody, Allison was dead, and Sloane had been pardoned, so if he was truly still evil, as both he and Sydney were sure he was, he had his work cut out for him trying to avoid getting caught. He knew that there were other threats out there, but as far as he was concerned, they had taken care of the most major ones.

Though The Covenant was a relatively new organization, they were leaps and bounds ahead of other recently created terrorist groups that often were brought down before they had even had time to generate problems. The Covenant had a mole on the inside of the NSC, and they also had several doctors around the world that were sympathetic to their cause. One of those doctors had been called into service for the Covenant, and was asked to examine Allison, and what damage the bullet had done.

He studied where the bullet had entered the brain, the angle at which it had entered, and the affected areas. Imputing this information into the computer, he showed Anna a computer display of the damage that had been done.

"As you can see," the doctor said pointing at a certain area, "this area was affected by the incident. It is responsible for the sense of hearing. She's deaf for good," The doctor said.

"Are there going to be any other side effects?"

"Unfortunately, yes. The bullet also damaged the area that allows short-term memory to be stored. She is, in a sense, not going to be able to move on mentally. She can learn through repetition, but she won't be able to remember things for long. Anna stared at her cousin, a thought that had lately been hard to grasp considering that Allison's skin color had changed in a matter of weeks, in pity.

"I'm sorry for the bad news, but that's the case." Anna nodded. This would usually be the point where she would pull out a gun and kill her contact and take her little momento, their finger, but since this doctor was willing to help her friends, she decided to spare his life.

She exited the room to see Allison looking at the same page she had been looking at when she had first picked up the magazine. Looking up and seeing Anna leave, Allison perked up. She had just been reading this interesting article about a plane that had gone down. On it had been a convicted murderer, a man who was under suspicion of killing a man, a doctor, and more. The plane had been on a course from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles when it had vanished. "Almost time?" Allison asked, unable to hear herself. Anna nodded. Looking down at the magazine in her hand, Allison saw an article that looked interesting about a plane that had gone missing.

Kendall had called a meeting a half an hour after lunch. Vaughn was the last to enter, and when he had, Kendall immediately started talking. "Yesterday we believed that Allison Doren, who now looks like Alice, Vaughn's ex-girlfriend, was dead. These pictures taken from a video camera at LAX prove otherwise. Tossing the files to everyone at the table, Vaughn immediately recognized his ex-girlfriend walking with another person, and as Vaughn studied the picture closely, he couldn't believe his eyes. "She's with Anna!"

Jack picked up his phone. "Bristow."

"Agent Bristow, it's Kendall. Put Sydney on."

Tossing the phone to his daughter, Jack listened as Sydney gave what history she knew about Anna Espinoza and Allison Doren. When it sounded like the conversation was winding down, Jack heard Sydney ask, "Why do you ask?"

Jack saw the color drain out of Sydney's face when she heard what Kendall had said. "Oh, my gosh," Sydney stated, enunciating each word.

"How is it possible that she's alive? I shot her in the head. I saw brain matter," Vaughn asked, stating the question that everyone wanted to know.

"Marshall?"

Standing up, Marshall began to speak.

"Okay. Good morning everyone. I trust that you all had a good night?"

"I didn't," Vaughn started, "my fiancé's in the hospital."

"Right, I didn't mean to imply…"

"Marshall…"

"Oh, yeah, um, how many of you know much about that whole stem cell controversy that's always in the news."

Every hand went up. Nodding, Marshall continued. "Does anyone recognize this?" The picture changed on the screen.

"It's a page from the Rambaldi journal," Dixon answered.

"Right. Guess which page."

"Rambaldi was obsessed with the number 47. Is it page 47?" Dixon asked

"Not exactly," Marshall answered. "But that's close. It's page 48."

"What's it say?" Vaughn asked.

"We tried to decipher the text, but to no avail. No avail, that is, until yesterday."

"What happened then?"

"Sloane gave us some intel that allowed us to decipher some of the text."

"How do you decipher it?"

"Good question," Marshall started. Changing the display on the screen to a double helix, Marshall asked the most obvious question in the world, "Who knows what this is?"

"It's a double helix," Vaughn answered.

"That's right. Do you see how it looks like a twisted ladder?"

"Yeah…" Vaughn said slowly.

"Well, on the double helix, each of the rung-type structures, which are called base pairs, are made up of a certain chemical. These chemicals are abbreviated with the letters that begin them; in this case G, A, T, and C."

"Right…"

"The page was encoded by a cipher using Sydney's genetic make-up. Once Sloane told us that, we were able to get it partially decoded. There are still people working on getting the rest of it decoded, but this is what we have so far."

The screen changed again. "It's a formula," Dixon stated.

"That's right. It's a formula, and from what the beginning of the text says, if you add the compound that this formula makes to a group of stem cells, then what it does is…well, basically it supercharges the stem cells. It allows them to specialize, divide, and regenerate and an unbelievably rapid rate. If this formula were to be used on an injury, or made into a daily vitamin, it would basically be a fountain of youth."

"We all know that Rambaldi was fascinated with immortality," Dixon stated.

"Right. It looks like he found a way to achieve that. If someone were to take a daily dose of this, they could, in theory live forever."

"Wow," Vaughn said quietly in amazement.

As he was sitting down, Marshall spoke up again. "I should also mention that this formula has a 24 hour time frame attached to it. For it to work successfully, it must be applied to the wound within the time frame of that injury, or if it's taken as a supplement, it's effects wear off in 24 hours."

The meeting broke up a few minutes later. Vaughn cut Marshall off before he reached his cubicle.

"Marshall, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you have a preliminary batch of that stuff?"

"What we're missing on the text is the chemical ratio. We have the list of all the chemicals we need, and yes, we have them all, but until we get the ratio, what we have is useless. Sorry."

"When you get the ratio, could you test it out real quickly. I'd like to give some to Sydney."

"Sure. And the ratio should only take a couple more hours."

"Great," Vaughn said nodding.

As Vaughn headed to his desk, Kendall cut him off. "All I wanted you here for today is the briefing. Now that it's over, you can go be with Sydney."

"Thank you," Vaughn said in a sigh of relief.

"Tell her to get well soon." With that Kendall walked away.

Vaughn was at the hospital when his phone rang. "Vaughn," he answered.

"Hey, Vaughn, it's me, Marshall. You wanted to know when we cracked the ratio. We just did a half hour ago. The test came up successful. I've made a pill for her to take. Could you make it here soon?"

"I'll be right there," Vaughn said, ending the call. Kissing Sydney on the head, Vaughn said, "I'll be right back."

"Okay. I'll be waiting."

Driving a bit recklessly, Vaughn arrived at the JTF building, took the pill, and left just as quickly. Driving a little bit safer to get back to the hospital, Vaughn handed the pill to Sydney who proceeded to swallow it. After explaining what it was and what it was meant to do, Sydney spoke again. "Now we wait."

…TBC…


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Bill paced angrily in the living room. "Where could she be? She didn't come home last night. She hasn't been back today. What happened to her?"

"I don't know. Why don't we call the cops?"

"Because it'd blow my cover."

"Are you willing to let our daughter die just to protect your precious cover?"

"I highly doubt she's dead."

"How do you know?"

"I don't. It's just a hunch."

The phone rang. As Rebecca answered it, she turned to Bill. "It's Hannah. She's in jail."

Biting his lower lip to keep himself from saying what he truly wanted to say, Jack stood in front of the cell.

"You had another daughter?"

"Yes."

"With whom, may I ask?"

"Why does it matter?"

Jack tensed up. He didn't want to reveal that he still cared for Irina. No matter how many times he had tried to convince himself otherwise, there was always that feeling that he had buried that came to surface any time he had to deal with his wife.

Ex-wife, he thought correcting himself, and then, once again, realizing he was wrong, he remembered the fact that neither had annulled the marriage that meant that he was still married to the woman in the cell.

"It matters because you claimed it affects national security. Who's the father?"

"What would you do if I told you that it was you?" Irina said, cocking her head slightly.

"When we find her, I'd have her tested to prove that you told me the truth."

"We, huh?"

"We, as in the CIA."

Irina nodded slowly. "You're not the father."

"Who is?"

"That'll cost you another month extension."

"Dream on," Jack said bitterly and turned to leave.

Vaughn watched as Sydney slept. She had fallen asleep not too long after she had taken the pill, and she seemed to be sleeping quite peacefully.

He remembered the way that Sydney's leg had looked as the firemen cut away the car with the Jaws of Life. It had been pointing many different ways in a grotesque arrangement. The doctors had said that they had been able to fix most of the bones.

Sydney woke up suddenly.

"What is it?" Vaughn asked.

Sydney looked at him. "My mom's still in custody, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I need to talk to her."

"What do you mean, 'We can't do anything'?" Rebecca asked.

"She got caught. We can't risk everything just to bail her out when she was stupid enough to get caught in the first place."

"She's our daughter!"

"She's your daughter," Bill said angrily.

"How could you be so heartless?"

"Sacrifices are a part of life. I loved my son and I had to leave him."

"Then reestablish communication with him. Be his dad."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because," Bill started, "I don't know where to start."

…TBC…


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The doctor came into the room. Turning to look at him, Vaughn and Sydney both saw him pick up her chart, study it for a little bit, and then put it down.

"Okay, Ms. Bristow, we're going to take you in for an X-Ray real quick to check how well the surgery went." A few more nurses came in and helped transfer Sydney from the bed to the wheelchair. "This shouldn't take too long, sir. If you just want to wait here, that'll be fine." Vaughn nodded as the doctor pushed Sydney out the door.

"Call him," Rebecca said.

"It's been nearly twenty-five years. What am I going to say? 'Hi, Michael, it's Daddy. If you don't remember I abandoned you as a child and had been deceiving both you and your mother in excess of two decades. How's it going?'"

"There's no need to get snippy," Rebecca said back to him.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing to say. What's the code of conduct in contacting someone that has believed that you were dead for so many years? I don't know what it is."

Rebecca glared at Bill. She unclipped his phone from his belt and handed it to him. "Call him."

Bill stared down at the phone as Rebecca walked away. Sighing, he clipped it back on his belt.

The doctor returned with Sydney around a half-hour later. With the nurses' assistance, he transferred her to her bed and began to examine the first x-ray. Vaughn could see confusion on the doctor's face as he pulled out the next x-ray and began to look at it, too.

"This is impossible!"

"What is it?"

"I'll be right back."

The doctor left, taking the x-rays with him. Vaughn looked at Sydney inquisitively. "What was that?"

"I don't know."

Minutes later, the doctor returned with the x-rays. Taking a small, lighted screen over to Sydney's bed, he put one of the films on it. Vaughn could see little chunks of bone that had been broken off of the large bone and several cracks in other areas.

"This," the doctor said, "was taken after you were brought here after your accident. Do you see just how extensive your injuries were?"

Sydney nodded in conformation. Replacing the film, the doctor showed her another x-ray.

"This was taken when we took you to get examined earlier." The picture showed only a few hairline fractures here and there. "I left here to make sure that these were the right films, only to be assured that they were. Part of how we know is that these pins that we had to put in when we fixed your bones correspond to where they were put. This is your bone. The rate at which it has healed is a record. If this pace keeps up, you should be out of here in a week or so. Is there anything I need to know about how this happened?"

Vaughn sighed and looked at Sydney, who nodded. Pulling out his phone, Vaughn contacted Kendall to fax over a non-disclosure and confidentiality form. After the doctor had signed them, Vaughn explained the basics behind the pill that he had been giving Sydney.

One week later…

"Just a few more steps. Come on, Sydney, you can make it." Vaughn watched as Sydney finished her physical therapy for the morning. After being led to a bench where she put on her shoes, Sydney got into the wheelchair, and Vaughn pushed her out the door and drove her home.

The drive was relatively silent. The radio was playing songs that neither of them was listening to. Sydney was the first to speak. "Do you remember when I told you I wanted to have some adrenaline pumping again?"

"Yeah."

"I guess this goes to show you should be careful what you wish for."

Vaughn nodded in agreement. When they arrived at his house, Vaughn helped get Sydney into the wheelchair and into the house. After they were inside, Vaughn helped get Sydney settled in. "Remember to keep your leg elevated," Vaughn told Sydney. Putting her leg up, Vaughn went into the kitchen and grabbed the ice pack, and using an elastic bandage, secured it to her leg. "Vaughn," Sydney said quietly.

"Yeah," Vaughn responded looking at her.

"Thanks."

"It's no problem."

"I know. Just, thanks."

Vaughn settled down on the sofa next to Sydney. A few seconds later, he felt the weight of her head on his shoulder. He could feel her body moving slightly with each rhythmic breath she took. Laying his head on hers, Vaughn joined Sydney in a deep satisfying sleep.

Bill watched from the back row as Hannah was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and ordered to complete a drug rehab program. The ride home was blanketed in silence, minus the sound of Rebecca's sniffles. When they finally got home, Hannah stormed into her room, slamming and locking the door once inside, Rebecca went to their bedroom and continued her crying. That left Bill to confront the man that had found a way into their house.

"Hey, Jim, it's been a long time."

"Yes, it has," Jim said nodding. Never one for small talk, Jim got down to business. "How'd my information get leaked?"

"What?"

"The CIA stormed my house while I was away. They took my wife. Only four people knew my location. Irina knew, but I can't seem to find her. My mother knew, but she died a week ago. I knew and you knew. Who'd you tell?"

"It was Irina who sold you out. She gave the CIA the location of the disk."

"So it wasn't you?"

"No."

"I hope you're telling me the truth."

"I promise you. I am."

"Okay." Jim eyed Bill cautiously. "I'm meeting with a contact to get new identity papers."

"Who?"

"Julian Sark."

The next day at work was Sydney's first day. Kendall wasted no time in pleasantries when he announced the next meeting. The small group filed into the conference room where another man no one recognized sat.

"James Markster. He goes by Jim. Mr. Markster has just used a procedure that Mr. Sark informed us of in his interrogation to contact him. He desires new identity papers. Using Sark's intel, we set up a meet."

"What's the intention of setting up the meet?" Sydney asked.

"Mr. Markster was once known as Joseph Lube. If you recall from the disk that Ms. Derevko supplied us with, Mr. Markster was one of the agents that pretended to be a CIA agent, but was actually a member of the KGB she helped extract. We thought we had found his location, so we sent a team in after him. We managed to capture his wife. From what we understand, Mr. Markster has very good contacts. So good, in fact, that he can contact Osama bin Laden himself. So in addition to being an enemy of the United States, Mr. Markster could also be instrumental in the ending of the war against Afghanistan and be responsible for bringing those involved in September 11 to justice.

"Our mission is to, using Sark to ensure the meeting goes as planned, trade the papers, and then apprehend him once the trade is complete."

"We're just going to let Sark go?" Dixon asked in disbelief.

"This wasn't my choice," Kendall said. "When I informed the NSC that we had this opportunity, my authority was superseded by Mr. Lindsey here."

Mr. Lindsey stood up. "I've contacted my superiors, and they agree that this is a necessary evil. However, Sark won't just be let free, he'll be wearing a tracking chip, and Mr. Dixon will escort him posing as his protective detail."

"Sir, with all due respect, Sark is going to find a way to escape," Sydney said, outraged.

"We're taking every possible countermeasures to make sure that that doesn't happen."

"I guarantee that by the time this mission is over, we'll have lost Sark."

"Your apprehensions are duly noted."

The meeting dismissed, and as Sydney wheeled herself out of the room alongside Vaughn, she muttered quietly, "What an a."

"No kidding," Vaughn replied.

"Heck, I work for him and I've got to agree," a voice with a British accent said behind them. Vaughn stopped and turned slowly, while Sydney pushed hard on one wheel, doing a 180. "Lauren Reed," Lauren said shaking Vaughn's hand, and then Sydney's.

"I'm sorry," Sydney said, blushing slightly. "I didn't mean for that to be heard."

"It's perfectly fine. And you're right. He is an a." All three of them laughed, and after they were out of sight, Lauren pulled out a phone. Pressing 4 until she heard a dial tone, Lauren said quickly, "Contact initiated."

…TBC…


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

Sark was sitting in the corner when he saw a small group of people headed towards him. The bald-headed man, who he had learned was named Kendall was with another bald-headed man, who he was quickly introduced himself. Robert Lindsey, Sark thought to himself. I've got the head of the NSC in my cell. This must be something important. He saw Marshall whom he had met when he had temporarily worked at SD-6. "Hi. Welcome. Don't kill me." The thought of this simple, yet honest opinion of his character made Sark laugh.

"Put it in his neck," the man named Lindsey said. Marshall took the gun-type contraption, and placed it on the side of Sark's neck. He heard a slight hiss, and felt a small area of skin part as the little device was implanted into his neck.

"Good job," Lindsey said, as Marshall was ushered out of the cell. "We just implanted you with a miniature tracking chip. It has two other functions, however. The first one is that it is a listening device capable of detecting even the faintest noise. The second function is that it holds enough cyanide in it that should you stray from your given parameters, it will release a lethal dose, that will kill you. Do you understand?"

Sark nodded. He had gotten around devices like this before.

"If you attempt to remove it, it'll release the cyanide. Is that clear?"

"Yes," Sark said. That'll make this a little more difficult.

"Good. You're going to be taken to a location. You will meet with a contact, and distract him long enough that we can apprehend him. Is that clear?"

"Who am I meeting? Where? What for?"

"In order to give you no upper hand, that information will not be given to you until it is necessary. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good." Lindsey turned and walked away.

Two hours later…

The plane took off, leaving Dixon and Sark on the plane. Sark was restrained, but he had enough give in his shackles to enjoy the glass of wine that he had been provided. "You know, there's nothing better than a bottle of 1982 Chateau Petreuse."

"I wouldn't know," Dixon said annoyed.

"Why the droopy demeanour. The CIA is about to score a victory. You should be happy."

"Why? You're asking me why I'm angry? I'll tell you why. I have to go on a mission with a man who conspired to kill my wife, and worst of all, I'm here to protect you."

"I should have you know that I had nothing to do with the decision to orchestrate your wife's death. All my role included was transporting the message from Allison to Sloane. Then I communicated the message from Sloane to Allison. I had nothing to do with your wife's demise."

Dixon tensed up. The rest of the flight was spent in silence until Dixon informed Sark of the parameters of the mission.

Sark and Dixon were sitting at the table that had been agreed upon. The visual cue that had been ordered was to have a place set at the table with a briefcase at the side that made it look like someone had been sitting there.

Earlier…

"Jim will approach and ask if the seat is taken. When he does, you'll respond…" Dixon explained

"Yes, I'm meeting a friend."

"Perhaps I'm your friend," Jim replied.

"Do you come bearing gifts?"

"Yes," Jim said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small cloth bag. Tossing it over, Sark opened it and dumped the diamonds inside of it out. Examining one closely, and then another, he nodded in affirmation.

"We have a deal."

Jim picked up the briefcase. "The code is 2-2-7," Sark told Jim.

Putting in the code, Jim opened the briefcase, examined the papers, and nodded in agreement. "The other half of your payment is in the van. Come with me and I'll give it to you."

Dixon and Sark both got up and headed over to the van. Jim helped Sark in first. Dixon had just gotten in the van when Sark yelled out, "He's CIA." Jim turned to Dixon, pushing him out. Slamming the door shut, he yelled at the driver, "Go! Go!" The tires barked on the ground leaving thick patches of rubber as the van moved forward.

"They put an implant in my neck. We need to get it out before we leave the boundaries."

"He betrayed us. Quick, activate the cyanide," Kendall yelled to the officer monitoring the situation.

"Delay that order!" Lindsey yelled. "We can use this to track him." Kendall looked infuriated.

"He know's about the implant. They're not going to take him anywhere until they know they can't be tracked."

"Sir, should I activate the implant?" the officer called out.

Looking absolutely ticked off, Lindsey nodded. "Activate it."

…TBC…


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"Get this thing out of me! NOW!" Sark yelled.

"Hold on just a minute," Jim said, his own voice raised in impatience. Taking his knife out of his pocket, he pressed the button, causing the blade to fly out quickly.

"Wait!" Sark yelled. "If you remove that without de-activating it first, I'll die!"

"Oh, what a tragedy."

"Hurry UP!"

"How do I deactivate it?"

"Do you have a strong magnetic field somewhere?"

"What do you think this is? The Knight Rider?"

"The transmission."

"What?"

"The transmission creates a magnetic field. Stop the van!"

The squeal of brakes cut through the air. Sark was already out the door by the time the van stopped.

"Pop the hood!" Sark yelled. "Give me your knife!"

"Here," Jim said, tossing it. Rubbing the knife against the transmission, he magnetized it as thoroughly as possible. Taking a deep breath in, Sark plunged the knife into his neck where the transmitter chip was. "Do you see it?" Sark asked.

"Yeah, just hold on a minute." Using the tweezers that had been in the first aid kit, Jim pulled the transplant out.

"Thank you."

"Get in the van." Sark complied.

"What do you mean it didn't work?" Lindsey yelled.

"The transplant was removed before it could release the cyanide," the agent stated.

"How could it be removed without killing him?" Kendall said, badgering the agent.

"I don't know!" the agent responded irritated.

"F!" Lindsey yelled and stormed out of the room. "S, s, s," Lindsey was yelling as he stormed out of the room.

Rolling his eyes, Kendall followed after him. Sydney stopped him. "Did it work?"

Kendall shook his head. "He got away didn't he?"

"Yeah," Kendall sighed.

"Where is he?"

"He just went that way"

Sydney nodded, and rolled away. She saw him walk into the men's restroom, and after waiting a short while, rolled into the bathroom. Going over to the handicapped stall, she rolled in and listened in disgust as Lindsey grunted and groaned as he did his business. After a few minutes, she heard him flush and walk out of the stall. When the water turned on, she exited the stall. She wanted to catch him off guard.

Rolling up behind him, she saw him accidently splash water on his pants as he turned around quickly.

"Perhaps it's just me, but I learned how to hold it when I was young," Sydney snipped.

"Son of a b!" Lindsey cursed.

"We shouldn't have let Sark free. We would still have him if you hadn't..."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Lindsey said, the vein in his head standing out visibly.

"I'm the person who's going to hold you accountable if Sark doesn't get apprehended soon!"

"Oh, you're going to hold me responsible!"

"Did I stutter?"

"What exactly is the purpose of this conversation? Did you want me to apologize...say I'm never going to make a decision that is my prerogative to make?

"This conversation is to let you know that I will take you to the mat...every time you pull something like this! I am not impressed by the fact that you play golf with the President... Letting Sark go free was moronic, and borderline criminal!"

"Did it slip your mind that I am the Director of the National Security Council? I could pick up the phone and have you thrown in the jail cell Sark just vacated...Hell, it's still warm!"

"Do it. Give me an object lesson in the abuse of power! Show me how it's done!"

"If you're finished...this is the men's room..."

"Who let you in?" With that, Sydney pushed solely on one wheel doing an about-face and rolled out of the bathroom, passing Vaughn as he was headed in.  
Vaughn knew better than to ask questions. Walking into a stall, he relieved himself. The whole time, hearing Lindsey mutter obscenities under his breath.  
As he walked out, Lindsey dialled his phone.

"Ms. Reed?" Jennifer said, peering in the doorway.

"Yes?"

"You have a call from Mr. Lindsey."

"I'll take it in here."

"Alright," Jennifer said and left.

Picking up the phone, she could tell that Lindsey was angry about something.

"Get packed. You're moving to L.A."

"Understood, sir," she said in her British accent.

Hanging up, Lauren looked both ways, picked up her cell phone and called her handler.

"We're sending you a file on agents Sydney Bristow and Michael Vaughn. We need you to befriend them and gain their trust."

"Okay."

"We'll pass the necessary intel to your mother."

"Understood."

Two weeks later…

Kendall looked at Sydney. "When Sark escaped, you had a coversation with Bob Lindsay in the men's room of the federal building in which you questioned his manhood. He felt like he wasn't respected enough around here and decided to send a replacement.

"I...guess I did."

"He's assigned Agent Reed here in his place."

"Hello, again."

"Hello, Agent Bristow. Nice to see you again."

"You too."

…TBC…


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Vaughn pulled in front of his house later that afternoon. After helping Sydney into the wheelchair, he pushed her inside. "Vaughn?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember Lauren Reed?"

"Yeah. She is one of Lindsey's gang, right?"

"Exactly. She just got transferred here and she asked us over to her apartment for supper tomorrow. Will that work?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Good."

"Ooh," Sydney grunted.

"What?"

"The baby just kicked."

"Here, let me feel."

Vaughn placed his hand on Sydney stomach and felt the small little disturbances on her typically smooth midsection. Kissing her on her belly, he let his tongue dip into her belly button as he gently licked it softly.

"Vaughn," Sydney said drawing out his name. A mischievous smile spread across his face, and he carried her into their bedroom.

The next day, Lauren heard her doorbell ring, and, hurrying to get it, she opened it, revealing Sydney and Vaughn. "Dinner's almost ready," she said with a smile. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Actually, we brought some wine," Sydney said, turning around to take the bottle out of the pouch on the back of the wheelchair.

"I can get it," Vaughn said with a smile, walking around and taking it out. As he walked by her to give it to Lauren, he quickly kissed Sydney on the head.

Thanking them, Lauren took the bottle and headed into the kitchen. As soon as she was out of earshot, Vaughn turned to Sydney. "I don't like her. She seems so phony."

"I know. She's trying to find some friends. She's new here. Let's at least be nice to her."

The dinner went smoothly, and Lauren asked them back for another meal. "That would be lovely. Thank you," Sydney replied. Lauren smiled at this.

When they had exited the building, Vaughn looked at her. "That would be lovely? Thank you?"

"We can't be civil?"

"We can be civil. I just don't like her."

"Give it time."

Over the next seven months, Sydney and Vaughn's wedding plans progressed quite nicely, but they decided to postpone the wedding a year in order to give Sydney time to have the baby, and to fully complete the physical therapy. Lauren overheard Vaughn's opinion of her one time, and had ended her association with them quite abruptly.

"You don't like me? Did I say something wrong? What is it?"

"It's nothing personal. I just don't like you."

"NOTHING PERSONAL? If you don't like me, I'd say that's very personal."

"I'm sorry."

"Leave! Now!"

Weiss and Sally's relationship quickly accelerated into a serious commitment.

"I think I love her."

"Really?" Vaughn asked in shock.

"Do you think it's too quick?"

"Too quick for what?"

"To propose?"

"What would I know? I was only dating Sydney around six months before I proposed."

"I think I'm going to do it."

Walking down the aisle with a cane, Sydney looked over at Vaughn. "We need mustard." Grabbing a bottle, he tossed it in the cart.

"Ouch," Sydney said wincing.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, just a stomach ache."

They continued shopping, until Vaughn had to stop again. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah. It's just…" Sydney trailed off. Suddenly, her eyes went big. "Vaughn?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"Get the car."

"What's wrong?"

"Get the car. NOW!"

"Why? What's going on?"

"My water just broke."

…TBC…


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"Okay, just wait right here. I'll bring the car around front and help you get into it."

"No need. I can walk."

"Don't overexert yourself."

"Walking to the exit is not overexertion. Walking to the hospital would be."

"Well…just be careful."

Vaughn hurried out and pulled the car up in front of the store. Helping Sydney get into the backseat of the car, Vaughn barked the tires as he sped away.

When he pulled into the hospital around six minutes later the nurses took over. Transferring Sydney onto a gurney, Vaughn followed as they rushed through the paperwork and then pushed her into a room.

"Alright, just breathe," the head nurse told her.

Sydney complied. As time went on, Vaughn empathized more and more every time that Sydney went through a contraction. In one of the times between contractions, Vaughn smiled at Sydney. "Do you know what I find amazing?"

"What?" Sydney said quietly.

"You always look beautiful, even when your hair is plastered to your head and you're screaming in pain."

"Thanks," Sydney said seriously. "I guess it's a blessing."

"That it is." Kissing her on her sweaty brow, Vaughn smiled at her.

"Have you called Dad?"

"Not yet."

"Do it."

"I don't want to leave your side."

"I can handle it."

Taking Sydney's hand and kissing it softly, Vaughn left the room and dialled Jack's number.

"I'll be right there," Jack said right before he hung up.

A scream from the room brought Vaughn running back in.

The night drug on, with both Jack and Vaughn at Sydney's side, as first the head appeared. The neck came next. The baby continued emerging from Sydney. After seven and a half hours in labor, Jonathan Donohue William Vaughn was born.  
Vaughn cut the umbilical cord. Cleaning the crying toddler off, the nurse clothed Jonathan off and, wrapping him in a blue towel, handed him to an exhausted, but exhilarated Sydney.

Sydney smiled. "Hey J.D. I'm your mommy."

Handing the J.D. to Vaughn, Sydney watched as Vaughn smiled at their child.

Looking over at Jack, Vaughn smiled. "Congratulations, Grandpa."

Expecting a stern response of, "Don't call me Grandpa," Vaughn was shocked when Jack smiled again and nodded. "Thanks. Can I hold him?"

"Of course," Vaughn said and handed the crying baby over.

Jack held the baby softly, and started softly rocking J.D. Sydney was shocked when the crying stopped.

"Just because I don't have the magic touch when it comes to you, doesn't mean that I'm not good with kids."

"You never cease to amaze me, Dad."

Handing the J.D. back to Sydney, "Congratulations, Sydney."

…TBC…


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Jack went to see Irina later that week. "You're a grandmother now."

"Good," Irina said with a smile. "How's the baby look?"

"He's got Sydney's eyes, Vaughn's nose, and you can just tell that this baby's smart. Please tell me that you aren't sure about that prophecy."

"I wish I could, but I told you what it said. Rambaldi hasn't been proven wrong yet."

Jack looked away for a bit. "I don't want anything to happen to him. He's my grandson." When Jack looked back up at Irina, she could see that his eyes were wet, even through the glare of the Plexiglas division.

"Is there any chance I'll be able to see him sometime?"

"I think that can be arranged. You know, I've never thanked you."

"For what?"

"For Sydney," Jack said, "and for J. D."

"You're welcome, and thank you for them both. You do realize that I have never told you about my other daughter."

"Yes, you have."

"Well, yes, I have, but not what you need to know."

"Which is?"

"I had an affair with Arvin Sloane while we were married."

"You and Sloane? Together?"

"It was an order. I complied, and that was all it was."

"So Sloane's the father?"

"I don't know!" Irina said with tears in her eyes. "She was taken from me before they could run any tests. I miss her." The tears started to fall. "I miss her, and I don't even know her. There's a way to find her, but I need your help."

"What is it?"

"There's a guy."

"Of course there is."

"Let me finish. His name is Masa Raidon. R-A-I-D-O-N."

"What about him?"

"He purchased a Rambaldi artifact known as 'The Hourglass.'"

"What's this hourglass do?"

"In itself, nothing!"

"Then why is it important."

"It contains a liquid inside of it. The liquid is the power source for another Rambaldi artifact."

"Do you know where that other artifact is?"

"The last I knew, Sloane had it."

"Sloane?"

"He's the one you'd have to talk to."

Sydney gently laid J. D. into the cradle with a smile. "Hey, there, little fella."

"Syd," Vaughn said with a laugh. "He can't understand you."

"I know." Turning to Vaughn, she laid her head on his shoulder with a sigh. "What a beautiful baby."

"Yeah, he is." Vaughn's eyes met Sydney's. "I love you, Sydney."

"I love you, Vaughn."

Vaughn smiled. "How come you never call me Michael?"

Both laughed. "I do sometimes…Vaughn?"

"What?" Vaughn responded with a smile.

"He's safe right?"

"Yeah, he's safe. I had Marshall install some extra safety features in addition to what we already had done."

"Good." Sydney nodded. "I finally understand where Dad's coming from."

"About what?"

"About doing anything to protect those you love."

"Amen."

With this word, a silent understanding passed between the two of them. No matter what happened, no matter what trials they faced, they would always protect each other, regardless of the outcome.

Weiss shifted the bouquet of flowers to his other hand as he pulled out the key Sally had given him a month ago. Quietly unlocking the door, he slipped in. Planning on giving her the biggest surprise of her life, Weiss started to put out the place settings for the meal he had cooked earlier. Placing the candles on the table, Weiss did a double take to make sure that he hadn't everything but the food was ready. Everything was perfect. Going out to the car, he grabbed the food, and checked the ring box in his pocket. It had to be perfect. When everything was ready, Weiss sat in a chair and waited for Sally to return.

"Jack, so nice to see you," Sloane said, ushering the stoic faced man into his vast office of Omnifam. "Can I get you a glass of water?"

"No thank you."

"What can I do for you?"

"You can tell me how to find Irina's other daughter."

A small smile and a silent nod was Sloane's reaction. "So she told you?"

"Yes."

"I'm curious, what else did she say?"

"She said that you had an artifact that could disclose the location of my daughter's sister."

"Did she give any indication as to the parentage of her second daughter?"

"No. Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't…much."

"Quit playing games, Arvin. Do you have it or not?"

"I'm afraid I don't."

"Then where is it?"

"When I turned myself in to the CIA, I turned over all my possessions that dealt with Rambaldi. You only need to search within your own government to find the answer."

"I searched. That search came up empty."

"Then I'm afraid I can't help you. I'm sorry you came all this way for nothing." Nodding, Jack turned and left the office.

Sydney and Vaughn were snuggled in tight against each other. The soft sound of a board creeking woke both. "Someone's inside," Vaughn whispered.

Grabbing her gun from her drawer, Sydney nodded. "So it begins," she whispered back.

…TBC…


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Sydney stealthily snuck out of their bedroom and headed for where she had heard the sound. Gun drawn, she turned the corner. "Freeze!" she yelled.

Weiss looked up at her. "Hey, Syd."

Vaughn came in after Sydney. "What are you doing here?"

"It's over."

"What's over?"

"Me and Sally."

"Why? What happened?"

"I had this romantic night planned. I had cooked supper. Everything was perfect. I was waiting for her to come home."

"What happened?"

"She came home with another guy."

"Sally? She was cheating on you?"

"Yeah," Weiss said, and as he took a drink from the bottle, Vaughn walked over to him.

"Listen, Eric…Hey, put that down…Everything's going to be alright, okay."

"No, it's not! Why can't I ever get a girl?"

"It just takes time."

"Yeah, well, I don't care."

"Come on Weiss, you're drunk."

"Wow, you're observant."

"Let me take you home."

Vaughn helped pull Weiss out of the couch and, with Sydney's help, got him into the car. Once Vaughn and Weiss had left, Sydney went back into J. D's room to check on him. He was sleeping soundly. Sydney smiled at her son, and kissed the little baby on his head. "I love you, J. D."

For the next few months, Sydney stayed at home with J. D. while Vaughn went on the missions. One of those missions was to retrieve an object that Kendall had called The Hourglass. On the nights that Vaughn was gone, Sydney would sleep with J. D. in her room to make sure that he was safe the whole night.

J. D. started to cry on the night that Vaughn was gone to retrieve The Hourglass. Sydney rolled over, and, opening her eyes, saw a person dressed in dark clothing.

Vaughn stood outside the club with Weiss. He noticed the bouncer that they'd have to get around in order to get in. Vaughn was going to get into a fight with Weiss. Weiss would bring out a knife, and pretend to cut Vaughn. The bouncer would let Vaughn through to get cleaned up, while he restrained Weiss until the police came. Vaughn would go in, wipe off the fake blood, and get to the underground level where The Hourglass was being held.

The fight went well, and Vaughn was allowed temporary access, which he used to get into the sublevel. "Boyscout checking in," Vaughn said into his comm.

"We read you, Boyscout, loud and clear."

"Heading for the sublevel."

"Copy."

Slipping by the club's festive crowd, Vaughn managed to find the door leading to the stairs. Using the lock-pick gadget that Marshall had given him before the mission, he unlocked the door and ran down the steps.

"Base ops, this is Boyscout. We have a problem."

"What is it, Boyscout?"

"There's a motion sensor on a random sweep."

"We had no information on that."

"Well, is there any way to disarm it?"

"Boyscout, this is Marshall. I'm trying to disarm the sensor remotely, but there are a lot of dummy codes. In order for this to work, I need to extrapolate each one."

"Boyscout, this is Base ops. I recognize this system," Dixon said into the earpiece. Turning to Marshall, he explained, "It has a the repeating prefix of 8686 in most of the codes. That indicates that it's an anchor type design. I had a similar system once on a mission in Honduras. I know the back door. Could you move for just a bit?"

Vaughn heard typing, and then suddenly the motion detector stopped. "Base ops, this is Boyscout. It worked. I'm getting The Hourglass."

Vaughn removed the hourglass from the glass case, and was surprised when alarms came on.

"Base ops, this is Boyscout. I've triggered an alarm. Can you disarm it?"

"Not remotely. The Hourglass must have been on a pressure switch. Maybe putting it back will stop the alarm."

Vaughn ran back to the display. Replacing The Hourglass, he waited for the alarm to subside. "That didn't work. I need extraction."

Guards ran through the door, their guns trained on Vaughn. "I've been made," Vaughn said, and then felt a dart lodge itself into his neck. His vision blurred, and then everything went black.

…TBC…


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Vaughn opened his eyes slowly. As some light flooded in, he had to squint to keep his eyes from adjusting to the light as quickly. A man was walking in front of him smoking a cigar. Vaughn held in a cough as the man blew some smoke into his face. Nodding to some guards in the back of the sparsely lit room. "Hold him." Vaughn could feel strong hands securing his shoulders. Looking around, the man took his cigar out and ground it into Vaughn's arm. His muscles tensed up as the man eventually took the cigar away from the burned area of his arm and tossed it on the ground.

"Who do you work for?"

Vaughn looked up at the man saying nothing.

"Answer me!"

"F Off!"

Looking over Vaughn's shoulder at the guards, the man muttered, "Come and get me when he's ready to talk," and proceeded to walk out of the room.

The first guard came over to Vaughn and sneered. The guard brought his arm up and slammed his elbow into Vaughn's face. Blood filled Vaughn's mouth, and turning to the guard, he spat it out at him. The guard looked down at his black shirt with little droplets of blood, and then looked up angrily at Vaughn. Punching Vaughn in the face, the guard laughed as a torrent of blood started running out of Vaughn's nostrils. Before Vaughn could do anything else, he felt another jarring impact that knocked him unconscious.

The darkly clad person was bending over, reaching into the cradle as Sydney quietly managed to get out of the bed. Looking around frantically, the only weapon she could see within reach was the telephone on the nightstand. As quietly as she could, she reached around to the back, disconnected the telephone cord, and grabbed the base in her hand. Stealthily running to the figure's side, she bashed him across the face. She could see blood coming from his face. As he fell backwards, she could see J. D. in his hands. His body cushioned the flow for J. D, and while he was down, Sydney walked up to him.

With all the force she could muster, she slammed her foot into the figure's genitalia. The man sat up as fast as he could, setting J. D. aside in order to clutch his private area. Using this distraction, Sydney grabbed J. D. and ran out of the room and to the door next to it. Placing her eye next to the scanner, she allowed it to read her retina before the panic room door opened. Placing J. D. in the cradle inside the room, she quickly exited the panic room and triggered the door to close. When the satisfying click resounded, she knew J. D. was safe.

Sydney knew she had to get to her gun in the bedroom if she was going to have a chance to minimize the damage the fight would cause. As she turned the corner to her room, she was relieved to see that no one was in there. Running to her drawer, she pulled out the gun. Running back to J. D.'s room, she saw the thug starting to stand up.

"Freeze," she yelled, aiming the gun at him. As he turned around slowly, she kept the gun trained on. "Take off your mask," she instructed next.

The man slowly put his hands up to the seam of the ski mask. Slowly pulling upward, Sydney looked at her unknown assailant as his facial features became more familiar.

A quiet creak of wood caused Sydney to whirl around quickly. The last thing she saw before she dropped was a fist coming closer to her face.

Kendall furiously dialled Sydney's number. He heard it ring. Once. Twice. Three times. The ringing continued. After around two minutes, an out of breath Sydney answered. "What is it?"

"Agent Bristow, we have a problem."

"We have a problem here, too."

"What is it?"

"Someone broke into my house. They were after J. D. I only saw one of them at first."

"Did you recognize this person?"

"Yeah. It was Sark."

"Sark was at your house?"

"Yeah, but he wasn't the only one."

"Who else."

"Lauren Reed."

"What?"

"She snuck up behind me. She used something to knock me out." Kendall heard a groan.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"Did they get your child?"

"I don't know. Your phone call was what woke me up. Let me check."  
Kendall waited on the other end of the line while Sydney managed to get up and walk over to the panic room. He heard the door slide open. A gunshot sounded, and then two more. "They're still here!" Sydney yelled into the phone. Kendall heard more gunshots, and then the line went dead.

Vaughn tried to open his eyes, but he could only get one open. The other was swollen shut. A new man was standing in front of him. "Are you ready to talk?" the man said in broken English.

Vaughn remained silent. The new man gestured to the guard that had knocked him out earlier. Vaughn felt the restraint on his left hand loosen. He tried to overpower the guard, but the beatings had made him weaker. His hand was forced around front and then secured to a metal armrest that had been set down next to the chair.

The guard unsheathed a knife that he had on his belt. "Pick a finger," the new torturer said.

"How about this one," Vaughn said, retracting all his fingers but his middle one.

"You Americans and that stupid obscene hand gesture," the man said shaking his head. "Very well, take it," the torturer said. Vaughn felt the sharp edge at the end of his middle finger and grimaced as it started to move back and forth.

…TBC…


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"They're still here!" Sydney yelled into the phone as a few shots rang out. Dropping the phone, she turned around, grabbed her gun, and, unwittingly stepping on her phone, fired at Sark and Lauren. Sark managed to jump out of the way in time, but Sydney saw a small squirt of blood as the bullet entered Lauren's body. Sark rolled out of his hiding place and fired back. Sydney shot twice more at him. Both shots missed. Sydney knew that a fire fight taking place with the door to the panic room open wasn't safe for J. D.

Although it was risky, Sydney turned and caused the doors to close again. Turning around, she saw Sark rushing for her. He was quickly closing the gap between them. Casting a glance at her bedroom door a short distance away, she turned again and ran in, jumping on the bed, rolling to the other side and grabbing her cane. Sark was in the doorway when Sydney's hand finally closed on the handle of the cane. Instead of rolling back to face Sark, Sydney rolled off the bed as two more shots rang out. She heard the boards at the end of her bed creak, letting her know that Sark was trying to sneak around to her. Aiming her gun, she shot his kneecap when she saw Sark turn the corner.

As the middle of his leg matted with blood, he looked up as Sydney brought the cane down on the top of his head with all of her might. After the impact, Sark collapsed.

Knowing she needed to secure both Sark and Lauren, Sydney quickly grabbed the handcuffs on the dresser and affixed them around Sark's wrists. Even though she had managed to secure Sark, Sydney knew that she needed to secure Lauren too, assuming that she hadn't escaped already. Having used her only pair of handcuffs on Sark, Sydney quickly considered how to secure Lauren. Considering the idea of duct tape, Sydney started to head for the garage, passing by the open door of the closet. Spotting the shoebox that Vaughn had placed on the top shelf to keep it hidden, Sydney remembered the contents of that box included two pairs of handcuffs. Quickly grabbing the box and pushing aside the objects inside, minus the fur-covered handcuffs, she walked out to the living room to take care of Lauren.

"I'm hitting bone," the guard told the nameless torturer in the room.

"Stop," Vaughn heard the man say in response. The knife was taken away from Vaughn's finger. Although he wanted to curse, Vaughn kept the long chain of obscenities inside.

"Are you ready to tell me who you work for?" the torturer asked.

"Yes," Vaughn said nodding.

"Who do you work for?"

"I usually don't know. I'm a freelancer. My jobs come courtesy of an anonymous contact. They wire money to my account, provide the necessary equipment, and I do the job for them. We never use names, on the off chance that something goes wrong, that nothing can be traced back to either of us."

"Why were you protecting this information earlier, if you really don't know who hired you?"

"Because," Vaughn started, "this one time, I managed to find out who hired me."

"Who?"

Vaughn thought as quickly as he could, trying to ignore the pain on his left hand.  
"Irina Derevko," he blurted out when he felt the knife again digging into his finger.

"Irina Derevko?" the torturer asked.

"Yes," Vaughn nodded.

The man was silent. "I guess it makes sense," he said when he finally spoke. "Me, I thought it was Arvin Sloane."

"What made you think that?"

"Because of what the device you tried to steal is supposed to do."

"What does it do?"

"It's rumoured to help the father of The Passenger locate her."

"What? What's The Passenger?"

"It's a woman. The daughter of Arvin Sloane and Irina Derevko."

"They had a daughter?"

"According to Rambaldi, yes."

"So that's why Irina wanted it. To help locate her daughter."

"No," the guard stated. "It wouldn't reveal her location to her; only to him."

"Why do you care?"

The man walked up close to Vaughn. "Do you recognize this?" he asked, shoving his hand into the little light there was, allowing Vaughn to see the O tattooed on his hand.

Vaughn had to think quickly. He knew what that was, but if he was just a freelancer, odds were that he wouldn't know. "No," Vaughn answered. "What is it?"

The torturer laughed. "It indicates that I am a member of the Magnificent Order of Rambaldi."

"Who's Rambaldi?" Vaughn asked, settling in for the long explanation that followed.

After about three hours of history on Rambaldi, Vaughn finally spoke again. "What's the use following his works? He's dead."

Looking at both of the guards, the man smiled. "Not necessarily."

"You think he's alive?"

"I don't know."

"What make's you think that he might be alive?"

"Rambaldi was fascinated with immortality. Several believe that he managed to find the secrets of it, and that he walks among us."

"That sounds kind of sci-fi doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does. However, I choose to believe that it's possible."

Vaughn nodded.

"Could you initiate contact with Ms. Derevko?" the man asked.

"Yeah," Vaughn responded.

"Set up a meeting. I wish to speak with her."

"Okay."

"Then, in good faith, I will allow you to take The Hourglass."

"Great."

Vaughn felt the restraints loosen, and then the guards helped him up.

Kendall was leading the small squad of cars that pulled in front of Sydney's house. As he was about to knock on the door, it flew open, revealing a dishevelled Sydney. "They're in the kitchen," she said, gesturing towards it with her thumb.

The CIA agents rushed into her kitchen and escorted Sark and Lauren out to the cars waiting outside.

"Good work, Agent Bristow."

"Thanks. You called me earlier saying that there was a problem. What was it?"

"Vaughn was captured. We're drawing up a plan to help rescue him."

"I'm going."

"Agent Bristow, you just had a baby."

"I'm going."

"Who's going to look after your child?"

"Jack volunteered after J. D. was born. I'm going."

Kendall sighed reluctantly. "Fine. Go see Marshall for the op-tech."

"I will. I need to go check up on J. D."

"What do you think about all this Rambaldi stuff," Vaughn asked the guards as they helped him up the stairs.

"I don't have an opinion," the guard on his left responded.

"And you?" Vaughn said turning to the other one.

"He doesn't speak English," the other guard said.

"Oh, okay."

"Here," the guard said, handing Vaughn his cell phone. "Make the call."

Bill watched through the binoculars from the building across the street. "Way to go, Mike," he muttered quietly to himself. Seeing another non-descript guard coming running from the club with a suitcase, Bill watched as, when he caught up with the others, the guard opened the suitcase and pulled an object.

When more was revealed, Bill recognized it immediately. "The Hourglass," he said in a hiss. Watching as it was put back in the suitcase and closed up, he realized that there would never be a better time than now to apprehend it.

They could never find The Passenger. Dialling his phone, he uttered one simple phrase. "We have an opportunity to get The Hourglass."

The man on the other end of the line voiced his approval. Bill rolled his eyes as he thought about the man he had just talked to. "He actually managed to convince them that he turned good," Bill said with a snicker.

…TBC…


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Vaughn looked at both guards as he took the phone and started dialling. Knowing that if he identified himself as an agent, his life would be over. He listened as the automated voice came on saying that the number he dialled was unavailable. Confused, he dialled Jack's number. After two rings, he heard Jack answer, "Bristow."

"I need to speak with Irina Derevko right now," he said bluntly.

"Agent Vaughn, is that you?"

"Yes, I can wait."

"Are you being monitored."

"Correct, that Irina."

"Do you really need to talk with her?"

"Yes."

"Hang on a bit. Let me go get her."

"Great."

Vaughn smiled at the guards as he waited for Irina to come on the other line.

"What is it?"

"Ms. Derevko," Vaughn started, "There is a person who requests a meeting with you."

"Who is it?"

"What's your employer's name?"

"Masa Raidon," the guard replied, and Vaughn repeated the answer.

"What does he want?"

"A meeting," Vaughn said. "That's all that he told me."

"I'm willing if the CIA will let me out of custody," Irina started, "but you can probably guess what Jack's doing right now."

"Yeah, I probably can," Vaughn said.

Jack came on the line. "Set up the meet. We can apprehend them without releasing her."

"I don't think that will work. Mr. Raidon was clear. He wants you there, or the deal's off, Ms. Derevko."

That statement was met with silence. "We're not letting her out of custody."

"Understood, but the agreement was clear. You must be there in person, otherwise you won't be given access to The Hourglass."

Silence again. "Set up the deal, on the condition that Irina is allowed to bring backup, and that Mr. Raidon is at the meet instead of sending a representative."

Turning to the guards, Vaughn recited the conditions which were agreed to quickly.

After Sydney had been assured that J. D. was fine, she took him out to the car, secured him in the car seat, and followed the convoy of cars to the JTF building.

As Sark and Lauren were each escorted to their private cells, Sydney noticed that a couple of people were congregated outside Irina's cell. Wondering what the commotion was, Sydney took J. D. and walked over to the cell as the session disbursed.

"What was that?"

"Agent Vaughn called," Irina said, and smiled as Sydney's face changed to that of curiosity.

"Is he alright?"

"He sounded good. Apparently he was able to convince them to let him go if he set up a meeting between Mr. Raidon and I."

"Is the CIA complying?"

"It sounds like it."

Sydney nodded.

"Is that my grandson?" Irina asked looking at J. D. through the glass.

"Yeah," Sydney stated, a smile appearing on her face.

"What's his name?"

"Jonathan Donohue William Bristow-Vaughn, with the last name only being that way until Vaughn and I officially tie the knot."

"Hey, Jonathan," Irina said with a smile. Becoming serious again, she looked up at Sydney. "How's the issue we talked about?"

"His safety?"

"Yeah."

"We've had two people try to get him earlier. That was the first attempt. Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"When I was in the hospital after the accident, I had a dream."

"What was it?"

"It was a page from a Rambaldi manuscript. There was a lot more written than you told us at first."

"What happened next."

"It was weird. J. D. was born, turned to me and said something, I couldn't make it out, and then I saw a man, aiming a gun at me, and I was watching this kid, I think it was J. D. when he's older, and he completely vanished. I heard a gunshot, and that's when I woke up.

"What did that dream mean?"

"There was more to the prophecy," Irina started. "Stuff that you'd be better off not knowing."

"What's that mean."

"Your son's going to play an major role in events."

"What? What type of role?"

"I can't tell you too much. Things must be revealed over time. I can tell you, however, that the fact that you found out I was alive happened for a reason."

"What reason?"

"Do you remember all the times I saved your life this past year with my information?"

"Yeah…"

"What would have happened if you had never realized I was alive? Think about that for a bit."

Sydney considered what Irina said carefully.

"Would the Alliance ever have been taken down if I hadn't assigned Sark to infiltrate SD-6? Would you have ever ended up with Vaughn if I hadn't been there? Would you have been able to keep your cover after Sloane managed to access Echelon?"

"Sloane wouldn't have been able to access Echelon. Cuvee thought Sark had betrayed him and that's when he moved Echelon. If Sark never joined SD-6 we wouldn't have received that intel."

"Granted," Irina said, "but trust me when I tell you that sometimes, Rambaldi's work has a second purpose. The Prophecy," Irina reminded Sydney, "it served to warn the government about your growing anger, which, if I hadn't turned myself in to the CIA and helped bring down the Alliance, would have escalated until you gunned Sloane down in a fit of rage and would thereby have been killed."

"How do you know that?"

"Some things happen, even though they don't."

"What's that mean? What does this all have to do with J. D?"

"I'll answer both of those things if you give me some time."

"Okay."

"The second part of The Prophecy, that bit about Mount Subasio, really served one purpose."

"What?"

"It was there to get you out of government custody, and to make you realize that I was alive."

"Which led to the destruction of the Alliance, leading to me being with Vaughn, and subsequently having J. D."

"Exactly. That's how it deals with J. D."

"Okay, but what about that 'things happening that don't' bit?"

"Do some research on parallel universes and it'll make sense," came Irina's reply. "Things happen for a reason. The birth of J. D. is going to affect millions."

"How?"

"Truth takes time, Sydney. Truth takes time."

…TBC…


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Sydney looked at Irina in the clothes that she had been supplied before the meeting. The CIA had also placed four trackers on Irina. Sydney had offered to be one of the guards. The offer hadn't come from the desire to be there on the chance that Irina might have been using this to betray the CIA; the offer came because Sydney hadn't seen Vaughn for five days, and she was about to go out of her mind.

The van pulled up, and Masa stepped out. Sydney swallowed hard as his guards followed. Sydney looked behind the group of three. She saw Vaughn's head appear in the door. One eye was purple and badly swollen, and as more became visible, Sydney saw his left middle finger with a piece of white tape around it. Sydney tried to hold in the tears that were biting at the edges of her eyes. She would not let these men see her cry. Vaughn got out and headed for Sydney. She started running towards him. They met in a tight embrace. Blinking back the tears was taking so much more effort now. **_I WILL NOT CRY!_** Sydney decided resolutely. She felt his arms around her waist, and the dam broke. "I missed you," she whispered into his ear.

"Thinking of you was what helped get me through this," Vaughn said into her ear. Pulling her away from him, Vaughn looked her in the eye. "I love you."

Sydney smiled, tasting salt water as some of her tears managed to get into her mouth. "I love you too, Vaughn."

He studied Sydney's eyes intently. "How's J. D?"

"He's fine. Jack's taking care of him."

"Good."

"What's the meeting for?" Sydney asked, hating to have to deal with work at a time like this.

"Who knows." Vaughn stated, and then chuckled softly. "Who really even cares?"

"Good point," Sydney said with a smile. She glanced over at her mother who was shaking hands with the man who had been responsible for the fact that Sydney had been separated from the love of her life for the past five days. "I have to go over there," Sydney said holding Vaughn's hand up to her mouth. Giving it a soft kiss, she started to walk away. As they reached the point where Sydney figured Vaughn would let go, she was surprised when he pulled her back into his arms. 

Covering her mouth with his, Vaughn forced his tongue into Sydney's willing mouth. The kiss lasted for what seemed like forever, and when Vaughn finally let her go, Sydney walked away with a smile. By the time she managed to get over to Irina, she managed to hear Masa utter the word, "Deal," and then saw them shake hands. One of the guards went back to the van and brought out a suitcase. Opening it, he showed that it contained The Hourglass, and handed it over to Irina. Irina walked back to the van they had arrived in, discussed the monetary transfer to the agent on the inside, who transferred the money to Mr. Raidon's account.

When they received confirmation of the transaction, Masa said out loud, "Pleasure doing business with you."

Turning to walk back to their respective vans, everyone whirled around as a gunshot rang out; everyone, that is, except Masa Raidon whose body slowly crumpled to the ground. Sydney and the other CIA guard pulled out their guns and trained them on Masa's guards who had their weapons trained on the CIA team.

Tension crackled in the air, and an all out war began when another gunshot sounded and yet another person dropped to the ground.

"NO!" Sydney yelled out as blood started to stain the shirt of the person on the ground.

…TBC…


End file.
